When Numbers Really Count
by CNJ
Summary: Book Three of *The BSC Legacy* - The BSC begins to fight back against the In clique at SHS. Operation Today's Good Youth is launched. Completed!
1. Prologue

This is sort of a prologue to the BSC's junior year. It's short, I know, but there'll be more soon, REAL chapters. And to the reviewers wondering what in the universe and back is Operation Today's Good Youth...it will be uncovered in this story, Book Three of _The BSC Legacy_. And as for disclaimers...BSC fans know that characters you recognize are not the current author's and that Mona Vaughn is a creation of Betsy Haynes, not the current author. Now, all the other new students and names you don't recognize ARE my creation and have been copyrighted...so here's when things change big-time for the BSC and the rest of SHS...

**The BSC Legacy – Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13 _

**1: Prologue **

**From the Desk of Ms. Leah Silverbein, Principal of Stoneybrook High School:**

_Dear Faculty_:

_Last April we were all stunned by the rampant violence at the Colorado school_. _What can we do to prevent this from happening here? This has troubled me for many months and has me worried_. _This coming year, we will be responsible for the safety and well-being of over one thousand five hundred students five days a week_. _In addition, due to re-zoning of Stoneybrook area schools, we anticipate many new students in all grades_. _I pondered this over the summer and have decided we need a student mediation program to settle conflicts between students_. _If I can count on the support of all of you, I can bring this to the Stoneybrook School Board and give it the approval_. _I believe this will reduce tension between our students and make schools safer for everyone and more conducive to learning_.

_Sincerely, _

_Ms. Leah Silverbein_


	2. Solomn Vows

Book Three of _The BSC Legacy_ is dedicated to the lives lost and their families and to the brave women and men who fought long and hard to save thousands of lives and to the American people, esp. of NYC and Washington, DC for their courage in handling a crisis and for reaching out to their neighbors in need during 9-11. The disclaimers are the same as before, with Mona belonging to Betsy Haynes and the BSC characters belonging to Ann Martin.

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**2: Solomn Vows**

**_Vows of the BSC for junior year_: **

_I, Kristin Amanda Thomas, solemnly swear that I will_:

Continue to lead the BSC to the best of my ability,

Not let the IN clique destroy who we are,

Not let the IN clique intimidate me or my friends,

NEVER let the IN clique make me ashamed of who I am or who my friends are,

Work to stay out of fights with that obnoxious waste of time, Riles Greer and,

Help to prepare the next generation of the BSC so Stoneybrook's kids are in good hands when we all go off to

college.

* * *

_I, Claudia Lynn Kishi, solemnly swear that I will_:

Continue to establish myself as an artist,

Continue to be the best Vice President of the BSC I can be and a friend to the rest of the BSC,

Continue to steadily improve my GPA so I can be ready for college in two years and,

Write or e-mail Janine at least once a week.

* * *

_I, Mary Anne Leah Spier, solemnly swear to_:

Put the house fire behind me, but never forget it,

Continue to be the best BSC secretary I can be and a friend to the rest of the BSC,

Do some serious bonding with Dawn, now that she's back here in Stoneybrook for junior and senior years,

Continue my project that I started after eighth grade...facing down each of my million fears, one by one and,

Continue to be an A student and work hard, so maybe I can win a scholarship to college in NYC and be a

teacher.

* * *

_I, Anastasia McGill, solemnly swear to_:

Continue to be an A student, so I can maybe win a scholarship to the

college of my choice and maybe be a doctor or engineer,

Move on from Ethan and mend my heart (and that means NOT falling for another guy too soon),

Continue to the best of my ability, be the BSC treasurer and friend to the rest of the BSC,

Visit Dad in NYC at least once a month,

Keep up the mother-daughter book discussions with Mom,

Not let the kids form the IN crowd upset me again, or at least try not to show it,

Expand my knowledge of the universe and other planets and,

Continue to the best of my ability, be the best treasurer and friend to the rest of the BSC.

* * *

_I, Abigail Stevenson, solemnly swear that I will_:

Get back on the soccer team since my arm's now healed from

last fall,

Not let the punks from the IN clique destroy who I am;attempt to stoptheir puerile ridiculing of kids who don't fit their

"mold" of who's "cool,"

Continue to be the best associate BSC member I can be and a friend to the rest of the BSC,

Continue to visit Dad's grave when my family and I visit Long Island and,

Try out for this year's winter play.

* * *

_I, Dawn Read Schafer, solemnly vow to_:

Do some serious bonding with Mary Anne, now that I'm back in

Stoneybrook,

Help her feel at home in our rental house,

Continue to be the best BSC associate member I can be and friend to the BSC,

Continue to avoid animal carcasses that call themselves meat and,

Continue to work toward saving the environment.

* * *

_I, Anna Stevenson, solemnly swear to_:

Stand by Abby and not let the IN clique bully her,

Continue to hone in on my musical inclination,

Be the best BSC associate member I can be and a friend to the BSC,

Try out for this year's school production and,

Whenever I'm in Long Island, visit Dad's grave.

* * *

_I, Mona Vaughn, solemnly vow to_:

Seek out the Baby-Sitters' Club once I start at my new school, Stoneybrook High,

Continue to visit animal shelters,

Stay close to Mom and my sister, Amber and hug them once a day or give them words of support,

Whenever I visit Bridgeport, visit Dad's grave,

Put whatever happened with the BIG clique of Burkeview High, especially Jana Morgan and Melanie Edwards

behind me, but never forget it,

Put what happened between Jana and Taffy at Wakeman Middle and Mark Twain Elementary behind me, but

never forget it and,

Put what happened between Taffy and me at Wakeman Middle and Mark Twain Elementary, but never forget it.


	3. Countdown To Class Time

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**3: Countdown To Class Time**

_Objective for SHS students_: _Be at school by 8_:_30 in the a_._m_.

**06:00 hrs:** Kristy wakes up, yawns, then leaps out of bed. As usual, she's the first one up. Puts her already-packed backpack by the door. Throws on the first ratty T-shirt her hand hits when she gropes through her closet. Grabs a pair of black ripped jeans to go with it.

Eeny-miney moes between her _Louie_ baseball cap and her beach cap. Decides on the _Louie_ cap Can't decide whether to have her hair hang loose or put it in a ponytail. Even braids it, mumbles, "Gross..." then finally puts her hair in the usual ponytail and puts the cap on with the visor backwards. Hears other family members getting up and with several of her stepsibs, goes hurtling down to breakfast.

**06:45 hrs:** Dawn rolls out of bed and gets dressed in her favorite _Save The Earth_ T-shirt and green jeans. She checks to see if Mary Anne's up. No, she isn't. She debates waking her up, but decides to let her sleep until **07:00** hours. She's glad to be back in Stoneybrook for junior and senior years of high school.

**07:00 hrs:** The alarms wakes Mary Anne up. Mary Anne punches the off button, muttering, "Ohhh, shit..." then rubs her eyes for a minute. She had a few nightmares last night, so she's a bit shaky and feeling pretty scared. Her stomach is queasy. Tigger seems to sense Mary Anne's fear and crawls on her bed and tries to soothe her. He licks her nose.

"It's here, Tiggy..." Mary Anne tells him. "What do you say we get up and eat. Can't get out of it." Tigger sits back and gives Mary Anne a long stare with his big green eyes. Mary Anne shakily slides out of bed.

She gets dressed in the light blue blouse, puts on black jeans, and her low black boots that she had put out last night. She looks a little pale and her heavy brows are taut in worry, she notices in the mirror as she brushes her newly cut hair.

"Oh, boy..." she whispers at her reflection. She has the feeling that today might be difficult. She sets her jaw, grabs her already packed backpack (which has her new notebooks organized alphabetically by subject) and gets ready to face the day with her usual grim gritty determination as she goes to the kitchen to attempt to eat some breakfast.

**07:15 hrs:** Claudia stumbles out of bed. She steps over various art projects, clothing, junk food wrappers and gropes her way to the closet.

"Oh, damn..." she mutters when she can't decide what to wear. She tries on a purple shirt and black leggings, then the purple shirt with the green stirrup pants, sticks her tongue out at that, then finally picks out a tie-dyed shirt and a multi-colored wraparound skirt.

She hunts for her backpack and finds it under her bed buried under a heap of M&M bags, dumps out last year's notebooks and papers on the floor, muttering, "I'll deal with that later..." then puts her new school stuff in it and heads down to eat.

**07:17:** Stacey slowly gets up, roots through her closet, deciding what to wear. She considers a gold skirt and bright red layered top, ditches that idea and goes for the bright purple loose top with a glittery Statue of Liberty on it, then bright magenta jeans. Her stomach is jumping around and she sits for a minute, trying to calm down, wondering why she nervous. Maybe it was the IN clique last year. Her mom peers in and asks if she's all right.

"I guess I'll be..." Stacey tells her.

**07:20 hrs:** Anna wakes up, then wakes Abby up. Abby groans, tosses a pillow on the floor and crawls out of bed. The alarms screams just then and Abby slaps it off, ordering it to shut up. The twins get dressed then Anna heads down first, Abby stumbling after her, still half-asleep.

Their mom is already there and wishes them good luck, especially since she knew about the trouble they had with the IN clique last year. After they eat, their mom gives them a good luck hug as she's leaving for work and the girls are leaving for school.

**Same hrs:** Mona Vaughn is a new student. She used to a student at Burkeview High in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She's moved to Stoneybrook this past summer and wakes up apprehensive about her first day at SHS.

She lies there a minute, thinking, then decides, "Nothing to do but get up and face today." She pulls on an old T-shirt with a cat on it and the first pair of jeans she bumps into in her closet.She heads down to breakfast and her mom wishes her good luck. After they both eat, as Mona is leaving for school, her mom gives her a good luck hug and wishes her well at Stoneybrook High and encourages her, that she knows Mona will make good friends there.


	4. New Blood at SHS

**_A/N note_:** I have Mary Anne's house fire take place the summer after tenth grade. The house fire plot is Ann Martin's idea, not the current author's. _The Fabulous Five_ is Betsy Haynes' creation, not the current author's. And the other usual disclaimers.

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**4: New Blood At SHS**

**Mary Anne: **

I had trouble eating. I had a pain in my stomach and even though the awfulness of last night's nightmares, two of them in a row, were fading, I felt shaky and fearful.

"Are you all right, honey?" Sharon asked softly, touching my face. I nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay home just for today?" Dad asked.

"No, I'll be all right later," I tried to smile. "I'm...I'm just nervous." I sipped some apple juice, my stomach bucking all the way.

"Go ahead and eat what you can," Sharon told me.

"We've been through a lot this summer and you're feeling the effects," Dawn added, sipping her juice and wolfing down her bagel and egg. "Not to mention what you and your other friends went through last year."

"Thanks..." I said softly, grateful that my stepsister was back here for junior and senior year.

I was also grateful for my family's support. I'm so glad we didn't leave Stoneybrook after all, but at the same time our rental house still feels very strange. I think all of us feel strange.

I'm so sad that our old house, the beautiful farmhouse is gone. Sharon and Dad are talking about using the barn to re-build the house.

If only I felt more at home here, I thought as we finished eating. I just nibbled on a bagel and forced myself to drink the juice.

Dawn and I hugged our parents before they left for work. Then Dawn and I got our school stuff and left a few minutes later.

"Still feeling lost?" Dawn asked on the way to school.

"Yes. It's so weird..." I tried to put my feeling into words. "It...feels like I'm living in this strange house and don't know where I belong in it. "Dawn... is it odd being back here?"

Dawn was quiet a minute. "A little...I'm glad to be back. I missed all of you. Our rental house does feel a little strange to me...kind of like a void that still needs to be filled."

"We will," I told her. If only I could be sure. "We're re-starting our new lives."

"Yeah. We've replaced most of our clothes and little things. And even at school, there'll be a lot of new students this year."

Due to re-zoning and the closing of the high school in the rural area of Stoneybrook, there are a lot of new students from all four grades coming to SHS this year. I guess if we could replace the feeling of...home, I'd say we've re-built what we lost in last summer's fire and our house would be back up again.

* * *

**Anna:**

Mom hugged Abby and me both for good luck, then we headed for school.

We were quiet a minute, then Abby told me, "I hope none of the new kids get sucked into the IN clique."

"Me too." I nodded. "I heard Ms. Silverbein is setting up a student mediation program at school and I overheard Mom on the phone talking to Ms. Brewer about taking more steps to watch the clique more closely."

"Good..." Abby muttered. "After what we all went through last year, we need all the support we can get."

I could sense that Abby was feeling a trace of anxiety remembering the In clique terrorizing SHS for most of last year.

Remembering the incident at Aster and Dusker's last March where a clique from Burkeview harassed us, I mentioned, "I hope Burkeview's principal is also doing something about their clique...from what that girl...Mona, I think her name is...Burkeview's also having trouble with their clique also."

"Me too," Abby agreed. "If they aren't, we can ask Ms. Silverbein."

"Good idea..." We reached SHS grounds by this time and headed in.

Abby is in a different homeroom, so we hugged each other good luck and parted ways until lunch.

* * *

**Mona: **

I'm in a homeroom with a Ms. Bird. I sat near the front and looked around. There weren't many kids in here yet, since it was kind of early. I didn't know any of them.

I was hoping one of the girls from the baby-sitters' Club might be in this homeroom, but so far I hadn't seen any of them. They're the only kids here I'd be familiar with. I first saw them in ninth grade at this big hangout place called Aster and Dusker's in Washington Mall, but got to really know them last year.

We met in an odd way. There's an IN group here at SHS and a snobby clique at my former school, Burkeview High.

Some of the BIG clique had found the BSC at Asterand Dusker's and were harassing them. I was there and had witnessed the whole incident. I got so fed up with them that I'd told them off! They'd been embarrassed and slunk off. The BSC had thanked me and invited me to sit with them for a while.

We talked and they're a nice group. That's when they told me about the IN crowd at their school who ran over other kids...including them.

They'd been a target of theirs for most of that late winter and spring of last year. Mary Anne Spier was in tears and two of the others...I think Stephanie or Tracey and a curly-haired one, I forgot her name, were just miserable.

Kristy Thomas is the leader of their club, kind of like Jana Morgan used to be the leader of the Fabulous Five back in middle school. It's the former Fabulous Five now.

Katie, Christie, and Beth are no longer friends with Jana or Melanie. Jana and Beth used to be best friends, but had a huge falling-out last April and Jana said some really awful things to Beth and Beth was devastated. So now Jana, her boyfriend, Randy, and Melanie are part of the BIG clique.

The first bell rang and more kids poured in. That's when I heard a familiar voice and looked up.

Mary Anne and the curly haired girl from the BSC were here! They stood in the doorway for a minute, their brown eyes wide and peering around nervously. They even look like they could be sisters, I thought. They have the same coloring.

I smiled, noticing that they both had terrific haircuts! Mary Anne's dark hair was now cut in a short layered style with her bangs feathered a little and slightly long in the back. Her friend's hair, which had been long last year, was now very short and curled softly around her face.

"Mary Anne!" I called.

Mary Anne saw me and her face lit up in a terrific warm smile. She and the other girl headed toward me and sat. Good thing we had empty seats nearby.

"Mona!" Mary Anne sighed. "It's good to see you here of all places!"

"Welcome to Stoneybrook High, Mona," the other girl smiled softly. "I'm Anna Stevenson."

"And I'm Mona Vaughn." I felt my shyness fade away.

Anna. That's her name. She seemed quieter, though. I had the impression of her last year as being really bubbly, athletic, and outgoing.

"Nice haircuts," I told them. "So...Anna, are you in the soccer team here?"

"No," Anna shook her head.

"She means Abby," Mary Anne put in. "Anna has a twin sister, Abby, who's into sports."

"Oh, I get it."

Now I understood. I'd wondered why she seemed so different from last year. So it had been Abby I'd talked to last year, not Anna.

"I'm so glad we're in the same homeroom," Mary Anne told us. "Kristy, Claudia, and Abby are in a homeroom with Ms. Chen."

"How are the others?" I asked and we launched into a conversation.

All of us began to relax. I learned that the one I'd thought was Stephanie was actually Stacey. I also found out that I was in Mary Anne's gym and sociology classes and in Anna's English and music classes.

"I guess today'll be all right after all," Mary Anne said. "I was a bit...nervous this morning." I nodded sympathetically. I know Mary Anne is shy like me.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

It was a little like our first day of freshman year seeing all these new kids, strangers. But this time, it was us who knew our way around.

In addition to the usual lost freshman, there were a lot of lost new kids from other grades too. My heart went out to them as they struggled to find their way around.

It's good to have Mona here at SHS. I helped her find her way around classes, so she wouldn't be too lost. Fortunately, we had several classes together and she was in Anna's music class.

The day was still a little overwhelming, but I didn't feel as shaky as I did this morning. On the way to lunch, I saw Ms. Fedders, the moderator of the SHS Beacon and our freshman and sophomore English teacher.

I waved at her and she waved back. She came over to me.

"How've you been Mary Anne?" She asked me softly.

I managed a weak smile. "Better."

I wondered if I should tell her that I haven't been able to laugh since the fire, which happened in June and that I haven't had a period since then either. Dawn tells me that it's the stress that's holding my periods up.

"I just want you to know...I heard about that awful fire and what you and your family went through. I hope you got the silverware that I donated. I also want you to know that if you or Dawn ever want to talk, come find me. I can imagine how frightening it must have been for you." She spoke in a low voice, so no one in the halls could hear.

"Thank you, Ms. Fedders," I whispered, my throat tightening. I was touched by her kindness. "I did get the silverware. We all appreciate your help." We walked down the hall a bit and I told her about the rental house and how Sharon and my dad were going to renovate the barn.

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that," she told me. "Are you sleeping well?"

"Yes and no..." I told her that I'd had some really bad nightmares over the summer and had a couple last night, but that they were becoming less intense and frequent now. We parted and Ms. Fedders gave me a hug.

"Just remember that I'm here for you," she told me before she headed into what I guessed was the teachers' lounge.

I felt more at ease, better than I had in months. It looked like this day was going to be a decent one...Ms. Fedders' offering her support, Dawn back here for the last two years of high school...and maybe, maybe with all these new kids, the IN clique won't be so scary and intimidating as it was last year.

I headed to the cafeteria and managed to walk by Riles Greer and his cronies without shuddering or cringing, even when they snickered a little.

* * *

I had just finished my homework that night and wandered toward the kitchen to get a snack.

I found Sharon sitting on the living room floor, leafing through photos, the ones Grandma had given us last summer after the fire. Some of them were sticking together and I stooped on the floor and helped Sharon pull them apart without tearing them.

I looked at my natural mother's ring on my finger and felt a sad ache in my stomach.

"If I hadn't picked that house..." Sharon said softly. I noticed her eyes were full of tears.

"Sharon, what's...?"

"I wish I hadn't...if I'd picked another, better house, none of this would have happened...we wouldn't be in this house..."

Sharon looked at me, her eyes so pained that I felt tears well in my eyes too. "You wouldn't have gone through all that you did last summer..."

She's feeling guilty, I thought, my heart wrenching for her.

"Oh, Sh-Sharon, it's not your fault," I hugged her.

We both cried for a good long time. I never knew my stepmom was blaming herself. We then leaned on the couch.

"You..." I sniffled. "...had no way of knowing about...the wiring." I wiped my eyes. How awful it must have been for her!

"Thanks, Mary Anne," Sharon stroked my hair. "You've been great throughout this whole ordeal."

I leaned on her, glad that we'd survived that awful fire.

After I grabbed a snack of sugar cookies, I went to bed. I cried a few fresh tears after I got into bed.

I guess I was crying mostly for Sharon, but partly for our old house and all that we'd lost.

I guess my tears were also of relief...that we'd all made it out alive, that Grandma brought over more mementos, that not all of my diaries were lost, and that even Tigger was here, meewing softly and climbing on my bed. He reached over and licked face.

"Yeah, Mousekins, I'm glad we're here," I whispered, stroking him.


	5. A New Beginning

Kim Baxter is a creation of Betsy Haynes, not the current author. And the usual disclaimers on the BSC characters.

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**5: A New Beginning**

**Anna:**

I was enjoying this career day. I'd been a little disappointed that there was only one music session for an orchestra band. I've toyed with that idea, but I'm also considering joining a pop band, or even forming one.

Surprised? Me, quiet Anna, being a rock star? It's possible. But I'm not into rap or heavy metal, more like soft rock, like some of the old groups of the eighties.

I not only can play violin, but drums, piano, guitar, and bass. But for now I sat in a news media session and tuned into Renee Vasser from Channel 3 news who'd come to SHS. She was fantastic.

"I'm sure you all can think of societal problems that need changing," Renee continued. We all kind of looked at each other and grinned. Just then, David Hasen's hand shot up. "Yes..." she nodded at him.

"A lot of trash in the tabloids and talk shows," he stated. "Especially all this sex." A lot of kids giggled; some nodded.

"But we hear that a lot," Kim Baxter added. "And besides, now they have a rating system on TV shows. Like that Jerry Springer and even the worst junk."

"And in the States, you really can't censor the media," Kristy added. David kind of shrugged.

"What about something you don't see in the news?" Renee added. "But you think should be?" I thought of a couple things right off: the way kids with divorced parents are treated as souls to be pitied, how poor people are though to be inferior..."Yes..." Renee pointed. I saw my sister, Abby had her hand up.

"I'd like to discuss how the media has a negative image of generation Y...our generation," Abby frowned. "Often you turn on the news or pick up a _Time_ or _Newsweek_ and there's an article about a kid our age being arrested...then some editorial comes on and _tsk_ on about _today's decaying morals_. The adults then pick up and think all kids today are into drugs, pregnant, or violent...or like those two kids that did the shooting at Columbine last year.

"YEEEEEAAAH!" a bunch of kids yelled and I grinned. Abby's so right. It seems as if every time I hear adults discussing families and kids, I hear things like, _Oh, that NEVER happened when I was their age_ or _Today's kids are SO different_...different meaning immoral, uncivilized, somehow worse than they were.

"And the people that diss our generation act like _THEY_ never had trouble," Kristy interjected.

"Especially some of the fifties generation," Mary Anne put in. "If you listen to some of them, you'd think there was no such thing as teenage pregnancy, divorce, drugs, or sex."

"Not many admit it, but many teenagers back then got pregnant," Emily Bernstein added. "The girls were either pushed into early marriage or put in these 'unwed mother' homes and their parents would tell the neighbors something like she was away at camp or boarding school."

"I think people could lie more easily back then," Vilara Metz put in.

"I think they blame feminism," Abby put in.

"How is that?" Renee asked.

"Working mothers are blamed for things like crime and drugs," Abby continued. "I get tired of hearing people say stuff like, _She got in that trouble because her parents weren't there meaning the mother wasn't home all the time_. Back in the so-called 'good old days', parents left kids with nannies all the time...even homemakers."

"I have it on fact that spending ALL your time with the kids isn't good either," I blurted out.

"It's mostly the anti-feminist right-wing group..." Caitlin Giotti put in. "You know those Christian fundamentalists..."

"Some non-religious people fall for that crap, too," Tad Tiler added. "My aunt and uncle aren't religious, but they're always heaping praise on my grandmother how great it was that she sacrificed her career for them, yet they're still living with her and never learned to stand on their own..."

"Going on that anti-feminist vein, single mothers get blamed for stuff, too!" Kristy jumped in. "Nobody's been able to prove that a married person is a better parent than a single one..." We were all off and running on ways that our generation had a negative image.

"Have any of you thought of ways to improve that image, make the coverage more balanced?" Renee asked.

"Call the networks," Sandy Greenan grinned. "All the networks and have some kind of fundraiser."

"I have a better idea," Abby put in. "How about all of us writing to the newspapers in the area?"

"What, like a big long letter and have all of us sign it?" Will Atker asked.

"No, each of us here at SHS." Abby told us. "We can get the whole school involved in this, then contact kids from other schools like Stamford and Burkeview Highs and get their imput. Then we could make copies and send them to all the newspapers AND TV networks. That way they'll see that it's teenagers from every walk of life who feel the same way, not just a handful of teenagers."

"That's an idea," Renee smiled at us. Somehow I sensed that she'd help us, being on the news. I started to feel optimistic and a little excited as kids around us talked...


	6. New Routines

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**6: New Routines**

**Kristy:**

I have to hand it Abby; I think she started something on career day around school and maybe other schools. Even after career day ended, kids were still jabbering about what to do about the negative image the media has of our generation. I could see her down the hall passing the word on to other kids who'd missed that career seminar.

"Flyers," Claudia announced at a BSC meeting. "We need to put out flyers. I can make them. Remember when we first started this club?" We nodded.

"But where do we post them?" Anna asked. "We need to target the right audience...other kids our age."

"This sounds kind of risky..." Mary Anne put in shyly. "I could ask Mona to hand around flyers to kids from Burkeview." Mona went to Burkeview until this year.

"Not bad," Dawn nodded. "And if the kids at Burkeview know Mona well, they'll trust her rather than a stranger from Stoneybrook."

"Can we trust Burkeview?" Stacey interjected. "They've been our biggest rivals for a long time."

"I'm sure there're kids there that are sick of seeing our generation bad-mouthed," Abby insisted.

"It can't be on their school grounds," I added. "One good place is Aster and Dusker's on weekends. There're a _LOT_ of kids our age there from different schools. We hand them the flyers and they can pass it on to their schools."

Aster and Dusker's is a combination arcade, virtual reality, eatery, and hang-out place in Washington Mall.

"Don't forget to get permission from the mall people," Anna put in.

* * *

**Mona:**

I felt strange at first being one of the new kids at Stoneybrook High, Burkeview's rival and hanging around the BSC, but now it's becoming routine for me.

I remember how back in middle school, I used to hang around with a group of girls who called themselves the Fabulous Five and at first it felt strange, then it felt familiar...until around ninth grade when they started to drift apart.

Jana Morgan and Beth Barry were best friends until they had a huge falling-out in April of tenth grade. By that time Christie Winchell and Katie Shannon had left the group. Jana, her boyfriend Randy Kirwan, and Melanie Edwards then drifted toward the BIG clique at my old school.

Now I'm settling here in Stoneybrook and Mom and I have unpacked almost everything. My older sister Amber is settling in college in Rhode Island. I've joined the yearbook and Claudia Kishi and I are the junior designers. We both share a knack for art.

In some ways, Claudia reminds me of Beth with her bright clothes and sense of humor. Mary Anne's on the newspaper staff and since the _Beacon_ and the _Visions_ meet Thursdays, often Claudia, Mary Anne and I walk home together.

Mary Anne lives across the street from Claudia and me on Bradford Court. Did I tell you that Mary Anne used to live in the same house that I live in now? She invited me over one afternoon and told me a little about how she'd lived there before her dad married her stepmom.

"...I'm only in this house temporarily," Mary Anne told me as we sat on her bed with sodas.

I'd noticed that there were a lot of boxes in the living room and the furniture was sparse and wondered if she'd moved again recently, but hadn't asked.

"Where...?" I asked. "Did you live someplace else besides across the street?"

"Yeah..." Mary Anne's head came down and she became quiet.

"Until last summer..." Her voice shook as she spoke again. "Dad, Sharon, and I lived on Burnt Hill Road...before Dawn moved back here..." Mary Anne's hands started to shake as she told me about the awful house fire that had burned down her house there.

"Oh, Mary Anne!" I gasped. "I'm so sorry!"

Mary Anne's eyes filled with tears and she grabbed a tissue. I hugged her. How awful and scary it must have been for her! I could feel her trembling and I held her for a long time.

Once we parted, Mary Anne blew her nose and told me, "It's hard seeing my dad and Sharon lose their things."

I nodded sympathetically. I can't imagine what it would be like if Mom and I suddenly lost almost everything like that.

It would have really been awful if it had been a few years ago, when Mom had been struggling to make ends meet and support my sister and me. We had barely been able to afford even the necessities. Things are much better now because part of the reason my family moved here to Stoneybrook was so that Mom could get a better job as an accountant.

* * *

Funny, I thought as I crossed the street to my own home later on. I don't miss Burkeview as much as I thought I would. Lately now, I've been sitting with the BSC at lunch.

I love how interesting their conversation is...everything from junk food to the environment to psychology for starters. Always they've included me in their conversation and made me feel like part of their group.

"...I have this idea," Anna told us a few days later in the cafeteria. "I'd like to form a rock band."

"Not a bad idea," I told her, looking down at the sheet music she had by her tray. I know she plays the violin. "Do you write music?"

"Not really. I was thinking...Mary Anne, are you interested in song writing?"

Mary Anne seemed to think a minute. "I could give it a try," she finally told Anna. "I write poems, so songwriting can't be too different."

"Want to join us?" Anna asked me. I'd told the BSC that I can play the guitar.

"Yeah, I'd like that." It'd be fun to have a band right here at SHS. I smiled softly at the thought.


	7. Operation Today's Good Youth

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**7: Operation Today's Good Youth**

**Abby:**

It was Caitlin Giotti who approached me the following Thursday and suggested that a bunch of us gather at her house on Friday night to devise a strategy for organizing our letter campaign.

"I've got to hand it to you, Abby," she told me. "You were great. You and your friends got almost everyone talking."

I told her that I'd invite the BSC and talk to the kids who seemed interested in this movement.

* * *

Friday night, it was the BSC and about eighty or so kids, mostly juniors, but a smattering of sophomores and seniors too.

Mona Vaughn was there also, standing near Mary Anne and Dawn and talking. Anna and I waved at them and joined.

Caitlin lives near Kristy and me, just around the corner and three blocks over from McLelland Court. Her house is pretty big, so there was plenty of room. I remembered freshman year when she threw that huge Christmas-Hanukkah bash and there had been close to two hundred kids there.

"Isn't it great that so many kids turned out?" Claudia asked, grabbing some chocolate cookies.

"It's wonderful," Mary Anne whispered.

"I didn't think that many kids were behind us on this one," Kristy put in.

After we'd been eating and having sodas for a while, Caitlin leaped onto the coffee table and called for attention.

"All riiight, is everyone here serious about writing to several different newspapers here?" she asked.

"YEEAAAAH!" Everyone nodded.

"Hey..." Susan Perry stood. "What about..." she looked around as if making sure of something, then went on. "We'd better not let the In crowd get wind of this, you know the snobby kids who've been running things."

"They might try to sabotage us," Stacey added. She and I exchanged worried looks.

"We need to devise some kind of plan, maybe using signals," Kristy suggested.

"What we could do..." I stood up too and took a swig of soda. Everyone became quiet again and my heart started to pound. "Is pretend to be passing notes when they're letters. Act casual, don't show excitement and try not to get nervous. We need to make a list of the kids who'll collect them and mail them out. Kids we can trust."

"How about the Baby-Sitters?" Kim Baxter asked. "Since you all are spearheading this movement."

"Good idea," Stacey told her.

"Let's write down all of your names, since not everyone knows you by name," Caitlin suggested, stepping off the table and grabbing up a pen and paper.

I thought that was another good idea, in light of the fact that there were so many new kids at SHS this year.

"The next task is getting the kids from the other schools," Mona put in once Caitlin had dashed off to make copies on her mom's computer.

A few minutes later, Caitlin came back and handed out the lists with our homerooms on them so kids would know where to find us early in the day.

"And I have a suggestion for that," Mona went on. "We'll have to get permission from the mall people, but once we do, we could go over to Aster and Dusker's and hand out flyers."

"What we should do once we get these letters written is to mail them in different mailboxes," Claudia suggested. "We're going to have to check them to make sure no one writes anything obscene or stupid."

"And we need to make sure they're legible," Dawn added. We were off and talking on, exchanging ideas, bouncing around suggestions.

"Where're the letters going to be looked over?" Cindy Zimmerman asked. "I don't think it's a good idea to look over them right in the school cafeteria where the In clique could see us and try to ruin this."

"What about my house, where we have our BSC meetings?" Claudia suggested.

"Good idea..." "Sounds safe..." Kids nodded.

"You have your meetings in the late afternoons, right?" Caitlin asked.

"From five-thirty to six," Mary Anne told her. "You can call us there."

"I'm going to gather as many kids as I can and call you when we get more letters, okay?"

"Sounds good," Kristy nodded.

"Need a sitter?" I quipped. "Need to be all that you can be and join Operation Today's Good Youth? Call us today at this number!" Everyone laughed.

"Heeeey, what a good name for this campaign!" Diana Zwerdling shouted. Operation Today's Good Youth!"

"Hey, it is," Kristy put in. I nodded. It did sound like a good name.

"We could call it OTGY for short," I told everyone.

"OTGY has begun!" The BSC crowed at the same time and most kids grabbed sodas and clunked cans, bottles, and glasses together.

"To Operation Today's Good Youth..." kids around the room said.

I looked around, feeling good about this whole OTGY and hoped we really could make our voices heard. Now, if it really did result in a change in the way today's youth are depicted, we'll _REALLY_ have accomplished something big.


	8. Liftoff of OTGY

Once again, the disclaimers...Katie Shannon, Jana Morgan, Melanie Edwards, Alexis Duvall, Kim Baxter, Liza or Beth Barry, and Christie Winchell as well as Mona Vaughn belong to Betsy Haynes, not the current author. So does the name _Fabulous Five_ or Wakeman Middle.

And the BSC characters as BSC fans know, are the creation of Ann Martin, not the current author. Burkeview and other names that neither Fab Five or BSC fans recognize are the creation of this author and have been copyrighted.

There will be a little intermingling of former Fab Five characters in some of the upcoming chapters, but it's still mostly a BSC story, so it'll stay with the BSC. Soo, enjoy, all fans!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**8: Liftoff of OTGY**

**Mona:**

We made it to Aster and Duskers' the last Friday in September. The place was crowded as it usually is on weekend nights.

We'd gotten permission from the Washington Mall security and they gave us the okay once we left a copy of the flyer with them. All week in the halls, we'd been collecting from kids surreptitiously.

It was kind of a funny sight, when Mary Anne and Emily walked close in the hall and Emily passed her letter to Mary Anne and since they're both on the _Stoneybrook Beacon_, Mary Anne pretended it was an article for their paper when Simone Trentwood and Riles Greer passed them.

Later on, Claudia had leaned over the railing of the student lounge, then pretended to check something over by the stairs and Sandy Greenan purposely dropped her wallet and folder, leaned over to pick it up and quietly handed her letter to Claudia, who'd tucked it into her backpack folding her arms and leaning against the wall.

I myself had my letter written and had left it in Claudia's room, which is doubling as the headquarters for OTGY. Mary Anne is keeping a small notepad on who had turned letters in and which ones needed any questions answered or any editing.

I got a good response form a lot of Stamford and Mainview High kids who said that they'd get kids there to collect letters. One or more of us from the BSC would get over to Aster and Duskers' every Friday afternoon to collect letters and take them over to Claudia's.

I was hoping to catch some more Burkeview kids. After looking around a little, I spotted Alexis Duvall and another girl I didn't know.

"Alexis!" I called.

"Hi...oh, heyy, Mona, what's up?" she asked.

"A major movement at Stoneybrook High," I told her and explained about OTGY and told her that I was going to SHS and a little bit about the BSC.

"Sounds interesting," Alexis took a copy of the flyer.

She introduced me to the other girl and they looked over the flyer.

"Hey, you think Katie Shannon might pass the word around?"

Katie's a very solid thinker and makes other kids think too, once they get their minds off superficial things.

For instance, back in seventh grade at Wakeman Middle, Katie tried to raise awareness of how girls are still discriminated against and even started an all-girls' club.

But unfortunately, most of the girls didn't take her seriously and a lot of them were more concerned about getting and keeping boyfriends and clothes. The club had turned into a mostly makeup and clothes-modeling fest.

"She probably would." Alexis grinned. We talked a little, catching up, then Alexis told me she'd pass it around.

* * *

We came back every week. Unfortunately, Alexis said that only a few of the Burkeview kids had any real interest in OTGY a few weeks later when it was my turn to go. Only Katie, Beth Barry, Christie Winchell, Alexis and maybe sixteen other kids had put their letters in.

"Sorry about that," Alexis shrugged. Katie was with her and looked apologetic.

"No need to be," I smiled encouragingly at them. "Did you by some remote chance, get Jana or Melanie or Sara Sawyer?"

"Bwha..." Katie muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Not a chance," Alexis shook her head. "All's Jana cares about is Randy, Randy, Randy. And Randy and Melanie laughed in our faces while Jana cut us dead. And on top of that, Melanie's latched onto this new guy, Logan Bruno."

"Oh well..." I shrugged, looking over the small stack from Burkeview, then re-tucked the big stack from Stamford under my arm. "Thank you, you tried and I appreciate your efforts. I'll get these to Claudia."

"Good luck," Katie called. "If all of us women unite, we really will change this world for the better!"

I smiled and waved and we parted. As I met Abby and Mary Anne near the door, a girl ran up to us, a small stocky girl with dark hair. There was something familiar about her face. Maybe it was the way her brown eyes kind of searched our faces.

"Heyy, glad I caught you. Here's mine; I'm Karen and I'm a senior from Stamford High," she handed us her letter.

"Thanks," Claudia put the letter in her tote bag.

* * *

**Claudia:**

At Monday's BSC meeting between client calls, we sifted through _TONS_ of letters.

"Wow..." I gasped.

"Heyy..." Stacey held up one. "I think Ms. Silverbein's daughter is in here."

She showed us and sure enough, that letter that the last girl there had handed us was Karen Silverbein. I'd heard that Ms. Silverbein was widowed and had three kids, two grown and one a senior in high school.

"So that's why she looked so familiar!" Mona snapped her fingers. "She looks a little like her mom and has the same coloring."

"She does," I nodded.

How true. Ms. Silverbein's black hair is now streaked with gray and she's stocky, has dark eyes, and is about five-six.

Thinking back, Karen even had the same heavy dark eyebrows as her mother, but they had grown together the way I think Ms. Silverbein's have. I think Ms. Silverbein has a clump of hair between her brows and she shaves that hair every morning. I giggled to myself at the thought.

"Can you imagine your mom being the principal?" Abby asked.

"I think that's why principals don't usually take positions at the same schools that their kids go to," Mary Anne told us. "I think a lot of kids are uncomfortable with that."

"Her kids are lucky," Kristy put in. "She's great."

"Hey, you all, I haven't given up on Burkeview yet," Mona put in. "There were only around sixteen, but remember they have a BIG clique there too. I think a lot of kids are still afraid of them."

"Probably." Anna nodded.

"I'm glad kids here are beginning to fight back," I put in

I remembered how powerful the In crowd at our school had been last year. Hopefully, more kids here and at Burkeview will get sick of those awful cliques pushing others around and join OTGY.

* * *

**Mona:**

Anna invited Mary Anne and me to her house one rainy afternoon. We'd made it into the holiday production that's coming out in December. Once we'd found out that we'd made it, we'd hi-fived and Mary Anne's eyes had filled with tears.

I'm glad Anna and Mary Anne would be up on stage with me. The thought of performing in front of a crowd still scares me, but with two of my good friends up there, it would be a lot easier.

By the time we got to the Stevensons' house, Abby was at a soccer meeting with Kristy and the rest of the team.

Anna's been teaching Mary Anne and me how to play the violin. It was quite a racket at first, because when you're learning to play a new instrument, you haven't got the coordination down. We wound up laughing a lot.

It's fun strumming away at the violin and I'd brought my guitar. Mary Anne loved the violin and whenever she got a good long note in, she'd close her eyes and look like she was in heaven or outer space. After a while, we took a break and had a snack and talked.

"It's great that we have this band." I told the others. "The middle school I went to, Wakeman, had one. But it was all guys, so I know we could use an all-girl band."

"Yeah." Mary Anne sipped her soda. "Boys run too many things in a lot of schools."

"Speaking of running things," Anna added. "Abby got a bunch more letters for OTGY, mostly from our school."

"I talked with some of the Burkeview kids," I put in. "Just a few of them added their letters, but I get the feeling more want to..."

I frowned, remembering how a lot of kids kind of wavered, then said things like, _I'll think about it_ or some kind of response like they don't see anything negative about our generation...

" It sounds like some of them are afraid of what the BIG clique would do," Mary Anne added.

"Yeah..." I nodded. "I wish I could find a way to give them more courage. Katie Shannon said she's trying to get more kids involved and she hasn't gotten many responses either."

"I guess it's something only they themselves can develop," Anna said softly. "No one can really give it to them." Mary Anne's eyes were intense with sympathy as she lightly touched my arm.

"Well, I'm glad kids here at Stoneybrook are on the ball," I drained the last of my Mountain Dew. "Come on, want to practice more?"

"Sure..." we went back to our playing.


	9. New Confidence Rising

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**9: New Confidence Rising **

**Abby:**

AAABBYYYY!" Two voices called as I slipped several huge envelopes into one mailbox late that October.

I jumped, had to put my feet on the ground to avoid falling over, and turned to see Claudia and Kristy racing up on their bikes with another huge stack.

"We got more from Mainview and Burkeview High!" Claudia pulled out a huge envelope.

It was windy and chilly, so I had to hold it down while she pulled out a marker and addressed it to the New York Times. We barely managed to stuff the letters inside and seal and stamp the envelope.

"Think the _New York Times_ will actually publish this?" Kristy asked.

"We can hope," I shrugged.

We biked down toward Claudia's neighborhood, then I stopped at another mailbox and put it in.

"My big hope is that at least some of the papers catch our message that it's really not fair how teenagers are portrayed even if our letters don't get put in...hi, there..." I waved at a scarecrow on somebody's lawn.

Halloween's just a week away. I'm glad we're mailing the letters this week, so we can get ready for the huge Halloween bash that Cindy Zimmerman's having at her house. I still have one more week to decide what I'm going to be.

* * *

**Dawn:**

"Speaking of which..." Kristy muttered at the Halloween bash, when I mentioned the In crowd a week later. There were several of them there and none of them were dressed up.

"Kids are standing up to them now," Mary Anne said softly. "They're not as afraid of the In clique as they were last year."

It turned out to be a rather neat party. A lot of kids stopped to talk to us and ask us a little about baby-sitting. Finally, Caitlin came up to us.

"HIII!" We greeted each other.

"Hey, you're doing it; you're winning!" she told us, swaying to the beat, her long dress waving. She was dressed as a pregnant bride.

"Winning what...?" Stacey asked.

"Winning against that In clique," Caitlin told us. "I think this Operation Today's Good Youth is giving you clout!" She hi-fived us and we clicked cups. "Cheers...to the Baby-Sitters Club."

"Let's hope we can get the media to listen to us," I said. "That's where we really have a stake."

"Oh, they will," Caitlin reassured us. "With what, twenty thousand kids writing in. They can't ignore us."

"I hope not." Mona sipped her drink. "You still think we have twenty thousand? It kind of doesn't feel like it. I still wish I could've gotten more Burkeview kids. There were just about twenty-five of them."

* * *

We had just come out of the back entrance from the "haunted" closet when Riles Greer passed and he and Simone Trentwood turned and slowly looked at us through narrowed eyes. Mary Anne's brows slanted as her hand went to her mouth and she tried not to whimper.

"Heyyy, what's this latest little crusade you diaper-changers are on this time?" Riles sneered.

"They brainwashed most of the kids to send in dirty diapers as some statement that they didn't like how the 'establishment' portrays teens!" Cokie Mason's voice jeered from down the hall.

"Shut up, Cokie!" Simone sniped.

"Yeah, go someplace where you're wanted," Riles sneered at her.

Cokie gave him a disgusted look and ran back down the hall, muttering something about stupid morons...

"It's Operation Today's Good Youth," Kristy told him. Of course they howled with laughter.

"Ohhh, today's Good, Sweet Innocent Youth movement has begun!" Riles howled.

"Actually, it's for your own good," I told him. "If you listen to the media, you see negative images of today's teenagers."

We really had nothing to lose now that most of the kids were behind us. Let the In clique ridicule their heads off.

"Remember you all got busted at the Planetarium back in freshman year on that field trip," Kristy barreled on. Simone and Riles quit laughing and gave us a cold stare. "Think about it. If those guards had a worse image of teenagers than they already had, your asses would be in juvie hall."

"Yeah," Emily Bernstein's voice chimed in. Susan Perry and several others came out of the haunted closet in time to catch the last part of our exchange.

"Butt out!" Simone snapped, but there were now about twenty kids crowded around, juniors and seniors and some of them were from other schools.

"So unless you want to end up there, maybe you should clean up your acts," Will Atker put in.

"This is more than just a crusade," Abby told them. "It's a social change and most of the kids wrote to the editors of all the area papers. If you two want to add yours, you're welcome to do so. If not...it's your choice."

Simone and Riles looked around, I guess realizing that they were outnumbered now.

Riles muttered something about, "...we'd better hit a real party or somethin'..." The two of them fled out the door.

"Wow," Abby whispered. "We told them off."

"We sure did," Susan put in. Kids whooped and backslapped, giving each other hi-fives.

"Better get back and see if there's more food!" Claudia called.

"Good..." Abby added. "My throat went dry when we stood up to Riles and Simone."

We went back to the main part of the house to eat, talk, and dance more. Looking around, I noticed a lot of kids intermingling more and not as divided into groups. Even we the BSC wave around and talked to different kids.


	10. Welcome to the BSC, Mona Vaughn!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13 _

**10: Welcome To The BSC, Mona Vaughn!**

**Dawn:**

I was deep in thought as I headed down the hall toward lunch that early November day, I almost didn't see some of the In crowd.

Burke and Riles were laughing at a freshman boy who I suspected that they had pushed while he was getting a drink at the fountain. The boy's dark eyes were wide and his skinny frame was shaking a little. Water dripped from his dark wavy hair onto his sweatshirt and he was slowly backing into the wall.

"Heyy..." I called. "I really don't think it's right what you two are doing."

Burke and Riles jumped, then turned and stared at me. I stared back as I walked past them. I looked at the other boy, who was short and with a glance let him know that he'd be okay.

"Oh, yeaaah..." Burke sneered as he and Riles came closer. With me as a distraction, the freshman managed to escape, scurrying down the hall.

"Yeah," I said quietly.

I didn't realize that I was so close to the lockers that I'd backed into them.

"Hey, listen up," Randy pointed at me. "You're one of those losers from that diaper-changers co-op and we're the cool ones. Don't forget it!"

"Yeah, I know," I held up my hands.

I didn't want a fight. I just wanted them to leave other kids alone. I wondered how long it would be before...

"Heeeeyy..." another voice called from down the hall. "I think you'd better knock it off or you two are going to get a lot of unwelcome attention."

It was Caitlin Giotti and she was strolling toward them slowly. Kids who'd been lingering in the hallway gathered around her.

"Yeah, your clique might be 'cool' in the standard, conventional, boring sense," Abby put in. I was relieved to see that the BSC had joined the group. "But it looks like you're just a few in a class by yourself...alone." Now that Riles and Burke had backed up, I darted over to Abby.

"We may be on the other side," Stacey put in. "But we have a lot of support and company."

"So don't you forget that," Kristy put in. She and Riles locked eyes a minute and I knew both of them were remembering the fist fight they'd gotten into last year.

"C'mon, we'd better get out of here..." Burke muttered. "Looks like they're all on us..." With that, he darted off.

"Hey..." Riles barked after him.

He muttered something, then seeing that he didn't have any backup now, he dashed off. I didn't realize I was shaking until I leaned on a locker.

"Wow..." I whispered.

"Hey, we're all on the other side, but we have lots of company," Mary Anne put a hand on my shoulder.

We sure do, I thought as we headed into the cafeteria to eat. A lot of kids were standing by the BSC now, so the In clique is easier to deal with.

Mary Anne had told me that last year, they'd practically ruled SHS and a lot of kid were afraid of them. I guess a lot of kids felt alone and didn't realize that others were scared too.

I'm so glad that's changing now. I think OTGY and the new kids were the two pushes we needed to get SHS back on track.

* * *

**Mona:**

I watched Kristy take the call that Friday afternoon at the BSC meeting. Mary Anne checked to see who was free on Sunday afternoon to sit for Gilea Minnow.

"Stacey's free...I'm free...and Kristy's free." Mary Anne looked around with her wide, serious, dark eyes. In the end, Stacey took the job.

Kristy glanced over at me, then announced, "Today we have an announcement and a vote. Do we vote Mona Vaughn in as our new alternate officer? All in favor, raise your hands."

"AYYYE!" The whole BSC did. I did it! I thought. I'd accompanied the BSC members on various sitting jobs during the past month for "test" jobs.

"Welcome to the Baby-Sitters' Club, Mona Vaughn," Kristy smiled and gave me a hug. She passed around the notebook and everybody wrote such thoughtful things that my eyes welled up. Mary Anne started to cry full force and she leaned over and gave me a hug.

"Welcome to the club, Mona..." the others added. Just then, Claudia snapped a picture of Mary Anne and me in our hug.

"Oh, Claudia!" Mary Anne managed a sniffly laugh and took a playful swipe at Claudia. "Another picture of me crying..." She and Claudia landed on the floor in a heap of giggles.

That night, being the first Friday in November, we had our monthly sleepover. We had it at the Spier-Schafers' house.

Sharon, Dawn's mom, came up to say hello and to welcome me into the club. Sharon's nice. She's funny, has dirty-blond hair, and is absent-minded, yet sharp. Mary Anne and Dawn are lucky to have her.

We ordered pizza, then watched _Defending Your Life_. We were cracking up by the end of the movie. I feel so comfortable with them. I finally found a solid group of friends to hang out with.

At my old school, I had kids who liked me and I liked them, but I never really fit in with them. I mostly drifted around the edges a lot.

I used to sit with the former Fabulous Five, but sometimes felt as if some of them were seeing me as just poor, ugly Mona. They'd broken up completely last year when Jana Morgan and Beth Barry had their final falling-out.  
But now, here in Stoneybrook, I felt totally at home with the BSC. These were truly friends forever and I was happy to be one of them.

After the movie, we went up to Mary Anne's room and played games like Uno and Pictionary. Of course, we pigged out on a heap of snacks. It was late by the time we went to sleep. We giggled and whispered for a long time in our sleeping bags.

"I'm finally feeling comfortable here," Mary Anne whispered to me. We were next to each other and the last ones to go to sleep. "Dad and Sharon also have the layout plans for our new house."

"Hey, that's good," I whispered back.

I thought back about the rough times my family has survived...my dad dying when I was in fourth grade, then my mom being unemployed for almost a year afterward.

I'd felt as if our house was so empty without dad for a long time. Any loss is likely to make you feel adrift. I'm so glad my sister, my mom, and I stuck together and weathered our hard times. It seems like Mary Anne and Dawn's family have done the same.

"You know, you guys are great friends," I whispered. "Back at Burkeview, I never really fit in. I feel totally at ease with you all. I like how you help each other out and I'm glad to be part of that."

"Thanks," Mary Anne whispered. "After that awful fire last summer, the BSC really helped Dawn and me through those first terrible days."

"That's wonderful." Mary Anne's lucky to have friends like this...and so am I.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

I was the first one awake the next morning. Odd. Usually Kristy is the early riser, up at the crack of dawn. Claudia and I especially love to sleep late on weekends. But I woke up at around nine or so and my eyes slowly opened.

I was feeling more at peace than I had in a long time. I even was starting to feel comfortable here in the rental house, which was good since I knew it would take several more months for our barnhouse to be re-built. As I turned over, I felt a throbbing in my abdomen.

"Ohhh..." I moaned softly, then smiled softly. I dared hope...I haven't told anyone except my friends this, but my last period was in early June and I've been a little worried because I'd gotten my first one at fourteen and just got regular a year ago.

But now, I'd skipped four months and was beginning to worry. Dawn says she suspects it was the stress of last summer's house fire that knocked my cycle off balance. After all, the fire happened in late June. Now I had a sense of relief as the throbbing pain in my abdomen increased.

I pulled myself up and headed to the bathroom. Sure enough, my period was here. Tears of relief welled in my eyes as I reached for a tampon. Now my body was back in sync, I thought as I washed myself off and inserted the tampon. Just like I was getting back in sync along with the rest of the BSC, I thought. And when our letters come out...


	11. Letters Are Out!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**11: Letters Are Out!**

**Anna:**

"...so let's make them feel welcome," Ms. Silverbein finished at Monday morning's announcements.

Wow. Hard to believe that we're getting even MORE new students this Wednesday and Thursday. It'll be about two hundred more for all four grades. There willbe about forty new juniors joining us. Almost everyone in our homeroom was talking at once.

"We should clue them in on OTGY," Mona told Mary Anne and me.

"That'd make them feel part of the school," Mary Anne nodded.

"We need to talk it over with the BSC at lunch," I added.

We did later on at lunch. A lot of the other kids agreed that it was a good idea too.

"We can tell them that they can still add on letters," Kristy told us.

"I wonder when we'll get word on our letters?" Abby wondered as she dug into her fettucini.

* * *

**Kristy:**

Sure enough, they came in mid-week. We had an assembly schedule that day, where the third period was used for the assembly.

This time, the rest of us had a study hall while the new kids had a brief orientation in the auditorium. As I read over my notes for a history test we'd be having on Friday, a note was pitched into my lap.

It read _I figured the new kids came from the school in the rural side of Stoneybrook_._ Love, Claud_.

_Where did you hear it?_ I wrote back.

_I overheard my mom talking on the phone with a friend of hers who is on the county school board_. _That school was one of the failing schools targeted for reform_. I nodded.

Claudia's mom is a librarian, so she has close contact with a lot of teachers and principals.

I even have heard that Ms. Silverbein is fifty-four, widowed, her first name is Leah, and lives in Stamford. Two of her kids are grown while she still has the one daughter we'd met last month who is a senior at Stamford High.

I've heard about "failing" schools, which basically means the schools aren't doing an adequate job of having supplies or competent teachers and kids are falling between the cracks.

_I hope Ms. Silverbein isn't inundated with a lot of paperwork and stuff like that_, I wrote back.

_Not to worry, Ms. Silverbein's on the ball_, Claudia wrote back.

She is, I thought. The student mediation she started back in September was doing well and now there were fewer fistfights between students.

I almost wrote another note back, but Ms Chen walked back toward the board and I didn't want her to catch us passing notes.

I don't know about her, but I know some teachers go berserk if they see students passing notes in class, even a study hall.

I grinned, turning back to my notes as I thought of Ms. Cerrata, our English teacher. She's one who doesn't tolerate any note-passing.

She's one ofthe toughest teachers in this school, but fair. She has a no-nonsense air that doesn't permit the usual cutting up that frequents other classes. Even kids from the In clique know not to cross her.

The bell rang for our next period. The halls were even more crowded and I could tell the new kids by the way they looked lost and often checked their schedule cards. Just like we did over two years ago when we started here at SHS, I thought.

"Hey, is Lit class around this corridor?" A voice asked me and I turned to see a lost girl behind me.

She had big brown eyes, an olive complexion, and sort of medium-brown hair with a tinge of red. Her heavy brows were drawn together in worry.

"Yeah, I'm head there now," I told her. "Just follow me."

"Thanks," The girl's brows relaxed.

Something about the way she walked suggested an extra maturity that most teenagers don't yet have.

"I'm Kristy Thomas," I introduced myself as we entered Ms. Cerrata's room and sat. I warned her that Ms. Cerrata was tough, but fair. She nodded, some of the worry coming back into her face.

"I'm Lyric Woodward," she told me.

"So, are you from Lockwood High?" I asked, referring to the school that had closed down.

"No, actually..." she trailed off a little. "I took time off school. I used to go to a school in Hartford. My dad died when I was young and it was just my mom and me for a long time. But my mom's...she's in rehab and I helped her out."

"Oh, that's too bad," I told her. "So, is she better now?"

"Slowly getting there," Lyric nodded. "She still can't take care of me, so when I was sixteen I became an emancipated minor."

"So you live on your own," I confirmed.

I've heard of emancipated minors, but until now, had never actually known one. It's when teens who can prove that they can support themselves and their parents can't care for them for whatever reason go to court and the courts tell them that they can live on their own.

"So at sixteen...how old are you now?" I asked.

"Nineteen." She said this in a matter-of-fact way. No wonder she'd seemed older than the rest of us.

"Wow, so you're legally an adult," I said softly.

"I work in a laundromat four afternoons a week," Lyric told me. "In fact, I worked out a plan with Ms. Silverbein last week that I have all my classes in the morning, then get off at twelve and go to work. She's neat."

"She is," I nodded. I told her a little about OTGY and Lyric seemed fascinated.

"That's one thing I missed when I was out of school," she told me softly.

Just then, Ms. Cerrata came in and everyone immediately turned around and became quiet. Attennn-tion, I thought in amusement, thinking of soldiers standing at attention facing their sergeant. I had the feeling a lot of the new kids would be interesting and would add more to SHS.

* * *

**Abby:**

"ABBY!" Anna shook me awake that Saturday morning after we welcomed the new kids into SHS.

"Ummm..." I moaned, burying my face into the pillow and wanting to just sleep some more.

"The letters we wrote to the editors...got in the _New York Times_!" Anna shook me again.

"WHAT...Where!" I snapped awake and sat up.

We flipped through the paper and found the editorials. Sure enough, our letters from Stoneybrook High and several other schools covered several pages. I saw mine third from the top. I saw my other friends' letters there too.

"Someone was able to get more from Stamford High," Anna pointed. "And some from Mainview High."

"Congratulations, you two!" Mom came in and hugged us.

She sat on the bed, growing a little misty-eyed. "You're both growing so fast...it's so hard to believe you'll be ready to graduate next year...your father would be so proud..."

"Oh, Mom..." Anna said softly and hugged her. I gulped hard over a lump in my throat as I remembered how supportive Dad had always been of our endeavors.

* * *

**Dawn:**

I was up early enough to grab a quick breakfast with Mom and Richard. Mary Anne was still asleep, so I had a biscuit, herbal tea and an orange, then went out to bring in the paper.

I sat down at the kitchen table and flipped idly through it. It was on the local Connecticut section that I saw our letters right there in the _Stoneybrook Gazette_.

"Mom!" I called. "Richard!" I raced into the living room. "They're in here!" I showed them.

"Oh, good for you," Mom put an arm around me.

"Great work," Richard added. "Is Mary Anne...?"

"I'll wake her up," I raced toward the stairs. "I know she wants to see this." Mary Anne likes to sleep late on weekends. I knocked on her door.

"Mmmmpp..." she moaned softly.

"Good news," I smiled. "Can I come in?"

"Yeaaa, I g'ss..."

I came in as she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. Tigger strolled in, jumped in the bed and licked her.

"Awright, I'm up..." Mary Anne looked up and I held the paper to her. "What's this?" She fumbled for her glasses and put them on.

"Our letters..." I pointed. "Operation Today's Good Youth."

She slowly focused, then her dark eyes grew big as she whispered, "Wow...we really got in here...oh, Dawn , this is great." She grabbed me in a great hug.

* * *

**Stacey:**

We really did it! It was all kids talked about on Monday at school.

And naturally it was the tabletalk of the cafeteria as well and the BSC and several other tables, new kids included, talked back and forth once we pushed our tables together.

It was really something. I could see that the cooks and cashiers looked bewildered, then fascinated.

"I hear it's those letters they wrote," I heard one cashier whisper. "They're talking about that. Did any of you read the papers this weekend?"

"Yeah, I saw 'em," a cook added. "That was something. I guess kids do get a bad rap with the media."

"Heeey, Stace, great reference to that book!" Charlotte Ginning called.

"Thanks," I called back.

In my letter, I'd written how things were more hidden in the old days before the advancement of the technology of the media and had referred to the book _The Way We Never Were_. It's a very good book; Mom and I read it last year.

Gathering from the conversations around the cafeteria, I heard that a lot of kids' parents had different reactions to the letters' release; some parents were happy about it; some kids said their parents were upset.

"Jessi and Mallory e-mailed last night," Kristy told us. "They saw the letters too."

Jessi Ramsey and Mallory Pike, two of our seasonal members who were away at boarding schools, had mailed in their letters from their schools and even gotten some of their classmates to join in.

"I can't believe we're in the _New York Times_ of all places," Claudia put in.

"Me either," I wondered if Dad in New York City had seen our letters.

It felt good knowing that we'd made ourselves and all our generation heard. The day flew by too fast and I was a little sorry when school let out, signaling that the end of the day was near.

Oh, well, there was tomorrow, I thought as I lingered around the school grounds for a while before heading to my afternoon sitting job.

* * *

Dawn, Mona, Mary Anne and I were at the kitchen at my house studying the next night after dinner and still discussing OTGY between study times.

"Wasn't that a great comeback Caitlin Giotti had for Riles Greer in the hall today?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Dawn nodded. "He looked so shocked that everyone laughed." Few people have ever stood up to him before. He is even more obnoxious than Alan Gray.

"Stacey...girls!" Mom called from the living room where she was watching the news. "Come quickly..."

We dashed into the living room and saw a newscaster thrust a microphone at a group clustered outside Stamford High.

"...disgrace how these teachers these day are encouraging this crass immorality of young people today..."

"And disrespect for authority!" another person chimed in.

"...letters all over the papers...is that what young people are learning today!"

We all looked at each other in near-shock. I just hope this doesn't start riots or anything.

"You all did the right thing," Mom tried to reassure us. "Don't worry. I'm behind you kids one hundred percent."


	12. OTGY Repercussions

The usual disclaimer and just to let readers know that Dekeisha Adams, Liza Barry, and Whitney Larkin belong to Betsy Haynes, not the current author. Ditto any other characters Fab Five fans recognize. Some of the OTGY letters are from the former Fab Five as well as the BSC. And as Ann Martin says to readers, happy reading!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**12: OTGY Repercussions**

**Kristy:**

Wow, what a stink some parents are raising over OTGY. I wondered if Ms. Silverbein had gotten calls about the because on Wednesday, she came over the loudspeaker and told us that she'd seen our letters and was proud of us.

"...and I'm honored to have students who can express themselves in a constructive way," she finished. I let out a loud whoop and several kids joined in.

In English class, Ms. Cerrata let us know that she'd read our letters.

"...and I might remind you all that you took on an enormous responsibility by organizing this event...and I read all of the letters and am quite impressed. I see I've taught you a lot about good, clear writing and you've incorporated it into your lives. Good work, everyone."

She actually cracked a smile at us, which is rare. As I hiked down the hall after that class, I heard two teachers debating.

"..don't want to admit that the slew of adolescent crime and delinquency is much worse today," Ms. Wirstwind was saying. "Too many of today's parents are just not there and it can't be good for kids."

"It's another finger-pointing at working mothers!" Ms. Buchwald put in. "I get tired of hearing this too and I think these kids have a point. I myself have a twelve-year-old and she's better off because of my career..." she held up her hand.

"Naa...not materially, but what about emotionally...?"

The bell was about to ring, so all of us scattered to get to class. I got to math class and slid next to Mary Anne.

"Hey, teachers are debating over us!" I told her excitedly.

"Yeah, I hear them too." Mary Anne's brows were slanted in worry. "I saw two parents outside of Ms. Silverbein's office. I just hope there's not a fight over this. There's supposed to be a parent-teacher meeting on Monday and I just hope we don't have a situation like that school spirit war back at SMS."

I remembered that and how it had raised a lot of stink because some kids were fighting over participation in Stoneybrook Middle School's spirit month back in eighth grade.

* * *

**Dawn:**

Mary Anne and I were getting ready for school on Thursday morning when I opened the fridge to grab my lunch and saw the newspaper there. I chuckled softly and realized that Mom must have been reading it and left it there when she and Richard rushed off to work.

I pulled it out along with my lunch and gasped, "My...God..." when I saw that it was the editorial section and what was in it. A lot of adults had written in. Some were supportive of OTGY; some were opposed.

"Dawn..." Mary Anne called. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," I called. I joined her and we left for school. "Look at this."

Mary Anne leafed through it and read what was in there. I think she tried keeping her eyes on the page and walking, but was shaky on her feet. We laughed a little.

I remembered Mary Anne telling me that she'd wanted to walk and read at the same time like Claudia's older sister Janine.

"Oh, come on..." Mary Anne muttered. "Did you see what a couple named Pendergast wrote in here?" Claudia and Stacey joined us and we showed them the paper.

"I saw that," Stacey told us. "Did you see a letter from a Ms. Shannon in there?"

I looked and sure enough, there was a letter in support of us by a Willie Shannon saying how encouraged she was by what she say in today's youth and how she had a daughter from Burkeview who'd contributed.

"That's Katie from Burkeview, her mom. Remember we met Katie at Aster and Dusker's?"

We nodded.

"I wonder if all her friends from her group contributed.

"I could ask Mona," Mary Anne offered. We met Mona at school and she told us that two of her friends, Beth and Christie contributed.

"I hear Beth is going by Liza now," Mona told us as we went to our lockers to get our books. Just then, Abby, Anna, and Kristy joined us.

"Boy, it looks like we started a MOVEMENT here!" Abby's dark eyes were wide as she looked around.

Abby had been a bit nervous at first about this OTGY, but had relaxed and was now into it.  
A lot of kids waved to us.

Some kids called out things like, "Great going!" and "Thanks for making all of us heard!" The day was a blast; a lot of kids stopped to talk about OTGY and about the media in general.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

At the journalism club after school, Ms. Fedders let us know that she was on our side. "It's wonderful how you all used the media so constructively," she told us.

"I wonder how they managed to squeeze so many in there," Renee Weng wondered.

"Yeah, there were THOUSANDS," Winlow Brammers added.

"Probably by computer," Enid Hadler put in. "Some newspapers still have them coming in."

"Did you see today's paper?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Kids nodded.

"I hope some parents don't badmouth our generation even more to the media. I hear at Stamford two parents almost got into a fistfight there," Gina Chiang told us. "My own mom's been on my side, but my grandparents haven't been and were on the phone getting on my mom's case."

For a while, things were in a clatter was we talked about this week's events, then Ms. Fedders put up a hand and told us, "Okay, Beaconers, much as I'd love for us to continue this discussion, we do have our own paper to get out. So, let's put our minds to work on our own paper, so it can be heard."

Slowly, we got to the editing of articles. I'd been writing on OTGY and had my article on the release of the letters in here. It looked as if next month, there would be a third piece on this.

* * *

"...so when he told me how much our daughters have changed, I agreed," Dad was telling us that night at dinner.

Sharon, Dad, Dawn and I managed to be home for dinner that night. With all four of us on busy schedules, it's a feat to manage that more than a two or three times a week.

"I told him they had changed for the better and matured beautifully."

"What a comeback, Richard," Dawn dug into her spinach.

She and Sharon were having spinach lasagna while Dad and I were having tortellini with meat balls.

"They're off and flying at my work too," Sharon told us. "Several people were by the water cooler debating on whether kids are better today and whether feminism was good for society."

"That second part of the debate is like asking of it's good that we have a vaccine for polio," I put in.

I think feminism is one of the best things about living today right up there with vaccines, caller ID and democracy.

* * *

**Claudia:**

At first my parents weren't sure if OTGY was a good idea, not because they didn't think it was right, but I think because they were worried about how other parents might react.

My aunt Peaches and Uncle Russ came over for dinner that night and brought little Lynn with them. She is one cute baby! I love it when they bring her over. She's two now.

"Think about it this way," Peaches said at the table as we ate dessert. "If people were always afraid of others' negative reactions, no one would bother and society would never move forward. We'd still have slavery, child labor, and women not being able to vote if some people hadn't been willing to risk negative reactions to take a stand."

"Good point." Dad sipped his coffee.

"Cookie...more?" Lynn reached toward the plate. Peaches nodded and I reached over and handed my little cousins another cookie.

"Yeah, Lynn, when you get to be my age, this world will be a better place," I told her. My parents grinned at her and me as she looked around with her big curious eyes.

* * *

**Dawn:**

Mary Anne and I got to school early on Friday morning. Mary Anne dashed off to a quick morning rehearsal with her band for the upcoming holiday production.

I slowly headed toward my locker and as I was passing by Ms. Silverbein's office, I could hear voices inside. The door was slightly ajar and a middle-aged man seemed to be arguing with Ms. Silverbein.

"...encouraging disrespect for authority!" Another ticked-off parent, I thought.

But I heard, "...it's in my school, Burkeview High and parents have been calling me to complain and blame me..." I glanced in from the hall.

"Robert..." Ms. Silverbein seemed to be trying to calm him down as she put up her hand.

Robert kept ranting on, paying no attention to her attempt at placating him.

"Robert...Mr. Brooke...Mr. Brooke..." Ms. Silverbein was struggling to keep her cool, but swallowed audibly mid-word instead.

I walked on so they didn't see me. So, Mr. Brooke is apparently the principal from Burkeview. I had been hoping Ms. Silverbein isn't getting too much of a hard time over Operation Today's Good Youth.

* * *

**Mona:**

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is this week. That Monday evening, Mom rushed off to the Parent-Teacher meeting while I finished my homework, then talked to Mary Anne and Claudia a while on the phone.

"I wonder what's happening at the PT gathering," Claudia wondered out loud.

It was actually a meeting of several high schools in the area, so Burkeview teachers and parents would be there also.

"Hopefully not going Springer on each other," I told her.

Quite a few parents are up in arms about OTGY. My mom's been supportive, thank goodness. She'd sent a copy to my grandmother and older sister, who's in college. I was glad they were both coming for Thanksgiving.

I was later getting ready for bed when Mom come home. I'd made her promise to tell me how it went.

"Mom..." I called as I pulled on my nightshirt.

"Hi, honey." She hung up her jacket. "Want some chocolate?"

"Sure." I nodded and went into the kitchen.

"So...did anyone go Springer on each other?" I asked once we sat with the cocoa.

Mom laughed a little and ruffled my hair. "Not really. But there were a lot of...exchanges, I should say. I saw Elizabeth and Watson Brewer as well as Sharon and Richard there. We sat together.

"Rachel Stevenson joined us too. A group of conservative parents pointed at her and claimed that her daughter was a troublemaker! Can you imagine? Rachel had some good comebacks and let all of us at the meeting know just how proud she was of both of her daughters.

"Richard and Sharon joined her and said they were proud parents of their daughters. And I might add that I told everyone how proud I am of you."

"Wow. Thanks." I sipped my chocolate. "You know, this whole Operation Today's Good Youth was Abby's idea. She helped get SHS back on track..."

I told Mom about how we were fighting back against the In clique at school. "...I just hope the Burkeview kids are doing the same. There still weren't that many letters by them."

"I wouldn't be too discouraged," Mom patted my hand. "Maybe the widespread turnout will encourage them to fight back against the clique at their school and join with their support in this event."

I hoped Mom was right. Once we finished our cocoa, I gave Mom a good night hug and went upstairs to bed.

Ms. Silverbein seemed tense and subdued the next day, but she came over the loudspeaker and told us that she was backing us all the way in OTGY, then wished us a happy Thanksgiving.

"We're FREEEEE!" Claudia shouted once school let out and we headed to our lockers.

"Some conservative parents really gave poor Ms. Silverbein flak at meeting," Mary Anne told us as we gathered by our lockers to get our things and head home. "Sharon and Dad told me that a Mr. Pendergast practically threatened her with a lawsuit."

"Mom and Richard stood up for her, though," Dawn added.

"So did Abby and Anna's mom," Kristy put in. "They told Mr. Pendergast that parents can't push educators around with lawsuit threats."

"I just hope Ms. Silverbein doesn't have serious problems with some of the conservatives," Anna closed her locker.

"Ms. Silverbein's not to type who can be bullied," Claudia hoisted her backpack over her shoulder.

Mary Anne, Stacey, and I had baby-sitting jobs that afternoon, so all of us rushed off to our T-day break.

All of us BSC met at Aster and Dusker's that night. There were lot other kids there from SHS and other schools as well.

"Way to go, Abby and Anna!" Caitlin Giotti called. "My mom told me about how your mom stood up to some of the unenlightened parents! Your mom's great!"

Almost everyone from SHS was gathered in clusters and talking about last night's PT meeting and how different reacted.

"I heard that Channel 3 was there!" someone crowed. "With a camera and reporters and everything."

"Heyyy, our parents and teachers are FAMOUS!" Jackie Madesky whooped and we laughed. "I hope they get Ms. Silverbein in there; I think it's great that she's stood by us all the way."

"I notice how tense she is," Mary Anne told us. "I hope over Thanksgiving, she can relax."

"I heard Mr. Bruno was there and was spouting off on how OTGY was ruining America's reputation," Emily Bernstein put in. "And Ms. Bruno was trying to calm him down, but Mr. Bruno got into a really loud argument with one of Burkeview's teachers, then with a Ms. Barry, then he and his wife got into a fight."

"Wow, you mean Logan Bruno's parents?" Kristy asked.

"Yeah. My mom told me about it," Emily nodded.

As we talked, more kids from other schools drifted into our section and joined the conversation.

"Wow, you must have had SOME meeting," a girl from Earhart High chimed in.

"Think it would make a good Springer piece?" someone else asked.

"More like a Ricci Lake piece," Susan Perry put in. "My mom told me no one got into any fistfights or anything, but things got loud and intense there."

It was getting late, so kids started drifting home. Stacey had her mom's car, so she offered Claudia, Mary Anne, and me a ride home. We all wished each other a happy Thanksgiving and parted.

"This is some phenomenon going on," Stacey told us on the way home.

"I know," Claudia told us. "I didn't think it would hit the news."

"Hey, if it changes the media's and adults' view of our generation, we'll have accomplished something," Mary Anne put in.

As we headed up Bradford Court, I looked out at some remaining leaves blowing in the wind and the change of seasons and thought about how our letters had started things blowing, but for a good cause, to change this world for the better.


	13. Coming To A Head

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13 _

**13: Coming To A Head**

**Anna:**

Thanksgiving weekend was fairly quiet. The week that we came back from Thanksgiving break was cold and cloudy. A lot of the new kids that had come in November told us that they'd sent in letters too. A lot of other kids thanked us in the BSC for starting OTGY.

"I think it was this campaign that gave my friends and me the courage to stand up to the In clique," Susan Perry told me on Thursday after school. "We're very grateful to you."

"A lot of other kids say the same thing," Hannah Toce added.

"Thanks," I closed my locker.

Friday morning, Abby and I were getting ready to leave for school when I happened to glance at the newspaper and gasped. There were many MORE letters from a LOT more kids from even MORE schools! "Wow! Abby! Look at this!" I crowed. Abby raced over and saw them.

"Oh, God!" Abby whooped. We hi-fived. "Wait till the rest of the BSC hears about this!" Abby howled as we headed out the door and to school.

**Mary Anne:**

Kristy, Dawn, Stacey, Claudia, Mona, and I were walking toward the school grounds when we saw Ms. Silverbein talking to a few adults by the parking let. There was a van that looked like a news van. It _was_ a news van, we realized once we got on campus.

"Hey, I wonder if SHS is famous yet?" Kristy pointed. We slowed as we got closer to the van.

Then Ms. Silverbein saw us and waved us over. "...and here are three of the kids who contributed to this wonderful cause..." she introduced us. It was several news reporters, a photographer, a Stoneybrook council member, and two members of the Connecticut delegate!

The reporters asked us a million questions. Mostly the other chatted with them, but I felt myself blush a deep red at all the attention and had to duck my head.

"Actually...Abby Stevenson st-started this in September," I managed to say softly when I battled with my shyness some.

"Right," Kristy put in. She told them about September's career day and how it all started. "It was Abby who pointed out what was wrong with the way today's kids are portrayed."

"You girls go ahead and see if you can find Abby," Ms. Silverbein instructed. "That young lady's a hero! And see if you can find the other students who contributed." We dashed into the school and caught up with Anna, then Abby. Once we'd gathered up the rest of the BSC, we raced through the halls rounding up the kids who'd been involved in OTGY and got them outside.

Abby seemed a bit nervous again like she had been at the beginning of OTGY, but once we got back outside, she seemed to relax, especially when Tim Hune whooped, "Heyyy, forget fifteen minutes of fame; this is gonna be an hour of fame!" as he booked outside.

A light early December snow was falling and it was freezing, but everyone was bouncing around with excitement. I had managed to grab a pad and pen on the way out to take notes for an article in the next SHS _Beacon_.

"Wow..." some of the reporters gasped.

"Almost the whole school," another reporter murmured, her eyes wide.

**Kristy:**

The whole school, except the In clique was out here. Wow. God. This was incredible. I felt a surge of pride as I looked around. And to think that the BSC spearheaded this.

Reporters milled around asking kids questions and the photographer snapped some pictures. Finally, the photographer asked all of us to stand in a group along with Ms. Silverbein and stand on the steps to have a group picture taken.

"Say_ letters_!" the photographer boomed.

"LETTERRRRSSS!" Everyone shouted as the camera snapped several times. Mary Anne then wrote some things in her pad, I guess for her article, then dropped the pad and burst into tears and threw her arms around me.

"Oh, we did it, we DID IT!" Claudia squealed as she threw her arms around us. That got the whole BSC in hugs. I noticed Abby's eyes were teary too. She managed a shaky laugh as Mary Anne handed her tissues. Mary Anne then sobbed into her own tissue as she put an arm around Abby.

The snow came down harder, but kids still talked and some others hugged. "Heeey, Mona!" someone called. Mona turned and it was Kim Baxter approaching us. "There're a lot more letters from Burkeview, did you see it yet?"

"I haven't." Mona's face broke into a huge smile. "I have to look at it first thing when I get home."

"I guess a lot of Burkeview kids wised up after all," Kim called.

"Hey, that's fantastic," Mona added. She and Kim hi-fived. Kim used to go to Burkeview like Mona.

"Yeah, I saw that," Anna put in. "I wonder what happened there to change so many of their minds so fast." Mona and Kim shrugged, then grinned.

"Well...we did it." Mary Anne wiped her eyes and retrieved her pad, then took out more tissue, and cried some more. A lot more kids thanked the BSC. We did it, I thought over and over again as I looked around. We DID IT! We changed the way our generation is viewed at least in the Northeast.

Today's kids had been heard all over the area for their true selves, not some distorted media image. And as an added benefit, the BSC led the other kids in taking back our school from the In clique and making it EVERYONE'S school again. What a feat!

"One...two...three..." I called. "WE DID IT!" I hollered. "WE DID IT!" we all hollered and the BSC hi-fived. It's great that we changed something about this world for the better. I saw Ms. Silverbein smile at us from where she was standing with the news crew. It was the first time I'd seen her smile like that in a long, long time.

Well, their Operation Today's Good Youth was a championship! More soon as the BSC prepare for the holidays and the turn of the millennium, which happens in their junior year!


	14. The Big Win!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**14: The Big Win!**

**Mona:**

Good thing I remember Beth's number. I called her that evening after the reporters came to SHS. "Hi, it's me, Mona Vaughn," I said when she answered.

"Oh...Mona...hi!" she said, sounding surprised. "Did you see all the letters?"

"I sure did," I laughed a little. "I saw yours...thanks."

"I just wanted to thank you...for being there last year...you know when Jana and I..."

Beth's voice got soft. It was good that she seemed mostly back to her usual bouncy, bubbly, dramatic self.

"I also wanted to make it up to the Baby-Sitters' group...what I did last year with the BIG clique was so wrong," she added.

"I'll pass it along to them," I told her. "So...how've you been..."

We talked about a half hour or so, catching up. Jana and Randy are STILL stuck together, it seems like. It's wonderful that Beth found good friends in Katie, Christie, Dekeisha, and Whitney. They call themselves the Five R Us.

They even had a sleepover in early November at Katie's house. Beth is also going by Liza now and is in this year's winter play.

I told her about my joining the SHS yearbook and the SHS upcoming holiday production with Abby, Claudia, Mary Anne, Anna, and me involved.

I told her about the band, Unconventional Sounds and the practices Anna, Mary Anne, and I have several times a week and some Saturdays.

It's good knowing Liza's heart is healing from last year and Katie and the others were doing better now.

* * *

**Claudia:**

I raced into the auditorium and helped Trevor Sandbourne, Miranda Shillibar, and Caitlin Giotti put up the last of the scenery about a week later after school.

Dawn later joined me as Abby's part was rehearsing. Boy, is Abby one swell actress! She'd be good trying her hand at acting as a career, but she says she wants to be in pro sports and if not that, a lawyer.

"We used paint that poses no threat to the ozone," I whispered.

"Swell," Dawn whispered back.

Abby has the part of a teenager who's been raised Jewish just like she and Anna were in reality. In the play, the character is growing up in a largely Gentile neighborhood and the neighbors can't understand why her family doesn't celebrate the way they do.

The character, "Meg" feels "odd," then meets a girl who's Muslim and with the friend's help, invites her other friends over for a Hanukkah celebration with Driedel-spinning and all. We gave Abby a standing ovation when her part was finished.

"WOOOWH!" Somebody chimed in and we saw Kristy walk in and head toward us.

She'd just gotten out of basketball practice. Abby bowed dramatically and waved to us as she ran offstage. Kristy sat by us and we talked a bit until the next part came on.

Two more parts, then it was Mona, Mary Anne, and Anna's turn. Wow, was I impressed! I know Anna has ton of musical talent that could take her to the top of the music charts, but Mary Anne and Mona were just as swell! Apparently Anna had taught them well.

Mary Anne got this dreamy look on her face when she hit an especially sweet note on the violin. She must really be touched by the music.

Mona seemed to really get into the music also; she often swayed to the melody.

When they finished their finale, we gave another ovation and whooped. The three of them looked started a minute, then blushed and bowed.

"Hope they're not too scared about the production," I whispered as they walked offstage.

"If I know my stepsister, she's scared but will go through with it anyway," Dawn whispered. "It's neat hearing the violin in her room. I haven't even needed the radio anymore when I'm studying."

* * *

**Dawn:**

It's so good to see Mary Anne getting on with her life. Our rental house...it doesn't feel so odd especially now that we have the holiday decorations up. We even have a menorah at our living room window.

After last summer's house fire, Mary Anne had been crushed. She'd felt so lost and was in so much pain that she went mute for two days, then cried _hard_ for hours. She'd suffered terrible nightmares also.

On the first day of school this year, she'd had trouble eating and was listless and pale. I think this band has helped her re-build her life and I know last month's sleepover, helped us both feel comfortable in our temporary house.

Even though I still often miss the California desert, I'm glad to be back in Stoneybrook for the last two years of high school. I do plan to head back west for college; I haven't decided where yet.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

I wished Lara Garrett good luck on Tuesday's English Lit exam as I left to head home after I'd tutored her. In two more days, Ms. Cerrata's giving a HUGE test on Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_.

British Lit is more challenging than the other lit classes we've taken. Most of the stuff you have to read more than once...once just to get the surface gist, twice to dig into the meaning between the lines, and in some cases, three to get under the letters and behind the actual words of the author's actual world and era.

I walked home in the dusty blue chilly dusk, looking up at the sky several times and wondering if we'd get snow for the holidays this year. Some years we do; some years we don't.

Once I got home, I continued my studying for Tuesday's exam. As I was studying, Tigger crawled into my lap and licked a page in my lit book. I smiled softly and stroked him.

* * *

Most of the questions on the test were straightforward essay questions. Some kids groaned when Ms. Cerrata passed the tests out.

"I don't think I did too well," Lara told me after class.

"Why?" I wondered.

"I guess...some of the questions had a lot of double-meaning and were vague."

"The notes I gave you...did they help?" I asked as we headed to our lockers to change books.

"I guess..." she shrugged and buried her face into her locker. "I read them and got them," she finished hastily.

* * *

**Kristy:**

My family and I were lucky enough to get chairs near the front Wednesday night for the X-mas-Hanukkah production. It was so great that several of my friends would be in this. We, the BSC, are winning against the In clique.

It is Operation Today's Good Youth that gave so many kids the courage to stand up to the In clique. It also united most of the students at SHS. It's good knowing that the BSC has many allies. It looks like we're going to make it. I smiled softly as the first act began...

* * *

**Anna:**

Was I surprised to see that Abby was actually _sweating_ backstage before her part came! She's not shy at all and always seems so cool and together in front of others.

I'm not surprised, however that Mona, Mary Anne, and I were sweating up a storm and Mary Anne's hands were shaking. I just hoped we wouldn't be sopping wet when our turn came. Abby managed a weak grin and joke.

"Good luck and don't break the instruments..." Abby whispered as her part was called. We managed to smile weakly back.

* * *

**Dawn:**

I'm sooo proud of my shy, nervous stepsister! God, she was great with the violin, even though I knew inside that she was shaking.

I got the feeling Mona and Anna were a bit scared too. But once they got the music going, they soared!

It's so wonderful that Mary Anne really is "de-chickening" herself.

I remembered how, back when we graduated from middle school, the BSC had been taking a first-aid course and Mary Anne has been scared out of her mind.

"You've got to fight these fears," I'd told her. "Be as brave as a tiger." I guess she's taking my advice!

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

The spotlight was nearly blinding, but by the time Unconventional Sounds got through the first two songs, I was managing to not squint and frown so much.

I was shaking like crazy and it was a wonder I was able to hold the bow to the violin straight. Maybe a Hanukkah spirit was looking out for us because we managed to stay in harmony and hit all the notes at the right time.

I could see Mona taking several deep breaths and I myself tried to stop shaking, but it was hard.

But I enjoyed hearing the notes coming out of our instruments and once we got to the end of our songs, the audience applauded and I spotted the outline of some of the rest of the BSC under the glare of the spotlight.

_Wwwhh_... I let out my breath in a shaky gasp and bowed along with Mona and Anna.

I could feel splotches of nervous sweat under my armpits dampening my white blouse. Oh, well, if I'm lucky no one will care, I thought as we headed offstage. Anyway, my friends would never care about armpit sweat.

"Oh, we did it," Mona let out her breath as we sank onto a long couch backstage in relief.

"Yeah..." Anna nodded. "Wow, I felt lightheaded when we were bowing out there."

"I was sweating and shaking," I held up my arms.

"Me too." Mona showed me sweat stains on her white blouse. "But we made it through."

We sure did, I thought. I never really thought I'd ever get the courage to perform on stage, but tonight I did.

It made me feel good facing down that fear. The fear would always be there, but I knew now I could feel it and cope with it constructively.

"The debut of Unconventional Sounds," Anna told us and we held up our instruments and tapped them softly together.

"To Unconventional Sounds," Mona and I chimed in

* * *

**Claudia:**

It was a good feeling when all of us who'd been part of the production. Even the art managers for the scenery were called out and all of us bowed after the last performance. The applause was deafening.

Abby and I waved, grinning and Mary Anne burst into happy tears.

"Awww..." a few of the audience gushed. I saw my BSC friends. Kristy gave the circle and whistled. Once we were backstage, we whooped and danced in a kind of circle. It's good to know that the BSC has a niche at SHS after all!

"I c-can't believe I...did it!" Mary Anne squeaked, wiping her tear-streaked face.

"Me either," Mona panted.

"We should CELEBRATE!" Caitlin Giotti whooped.

"How about a cast-BSC party at my house on Friday night?" I offered. "Cast of this production and the BSC invited."

"AWWWRIGHT!" Everyone chimed in.

Dawn, Kristy, and Stacey along with Mallory and Jessi, who were home for winter break, burst backstage and gave us hugs and hi-fives.

"YYESSS!" Kristy howled, giving Mary Anne and me one big hug. Then she hugged Anna and Mona in one swoop.

"You all were wonderful!" Stacey added. "God you were all so SWELL."

"Congratulations, Mary Anne!" Dawn hugged her stepsister. "You're succeeding at the great de-chickening project!"

"De-chickening?" I asked with a laugh.

"Oh, just a resolution I made after we graduated from eighth grade," Mary Anne told me. "Remember when we were taking the first-aid course and I was so scared?"

"Yeah, way back in the old days of middle school," I quipped and we all laughed.

It seemed all so long ago. Middle school had been like a calm latency before the storm of high school set in, then last year we'd had so much trouble with the In clique.

It looks like we've weathered the storm and all of us are stronger for it...not just the BSC, but most of the other kids at SHS who were once prey to the In crowd.

It feels good that SHS kids have pulled together in a united front, I thought as we continued to make plans for our cast/BSC party.


	15. Countdown to Winter Break!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**15: Countdown to Winter Break**

**Mary Anne:**

I feel happier than I have in ages. I'm feeling more comfortable in the rental house...not as lost as I did earlier.

I still feel sad sometimes thinking about our farmhouse, but that house is slowly being rebuilt and bit by bit, we're replacing all the things that we lost in that awful fire last summer.

Sharon, Dawn, and Dad seem more at ease too. Sharon doesn't talk about blaming herself anymore and I haven't heard Dad getting up at night.

I got the feeling that they had also felt lost, even though they didn't admit it. In English class that Thursday before the winter break, Ms. Cerrata handed back our tests.

"Yeeeeeee-HAAAA!" Stephanie Myler crowed. "Ninety-SIX!"

"Battle-ax gave me..." Simone Trentwood muttered, slamming her paper down.

I got a ninety-six also. The lost four points were for leaving out the connection between the two parts of the second question. But I was happy with the score.

"Ohhh nooo..." Lara Garrett wailed beside me as the other kids talked, whooped, or groaned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I flunked." Lara's eyes welled up with tears.

"You can't have..." My stomach sank. "We went over that so many times..."

"Well, I did!" Lara snapped, flinging her paper at me.

Then she burst into tears. My heart joined my stomach when I saw her score...fifty-five.

"Oh, Lara, I'm so sorry..." Tears came to my eyes and spilled down over my face before I could stop them.

"Hey, Mary Anne, why're _you_ crying?" Caitlin peered over. "You aced your test."

I tried to speak, but couldn't, so I pulled out tissues, handed some to Lara, then both of us just sobbed and sobbed softly.

I heard kids wondering what was wrong with us, but I didn't care. I wiped my eyes, stared at my ninety-six, which I'd been so proud of a moment ago, folded it up into a wad and stuffed it into my English folder.

"Uhhhh, ohhhh, ohhhuhhh, Mary Anne's CRYIN'...as usual!" Riles Greer singsonged, then laughed and pointed at me.

Perhaps I should have been embarrassed, but I was beyond embarrassment. I put a hand over my mouth and kept crying, feeling my brows twist and my mouth droop downward.

"Hey, girls, why the tears?" Ms. Cerrata came over. She put a hand on each of our shoulders.

"I...studied..." Lara sniffled. "Mary Anne helped me...I studied her notes."

"Goodness, Mary Anne, you're crying because..."

"I'm..." I struggled to catch my breath. I tried to control my sobbing, but couldn't. "I'm..." Sob. "I'm...s-s-so s-s-s-s-sad..."

More of my hiccupy sobs.

"Take a deep breath, Mary Anne," Ms. Cerrata instructed, rubbing my shoulder. She still also had her arm around Lara, whose tears had slowed.

I tried taking a deep breath and sounded like a malfunctioning tire pump.

"That's it, try to stay calm...so you helped Lara study..." Ms. Cerrata prompted.

"I tried, Ms. Cerrata..." I had to blow my nose several times with even more tissues. At this rate, my desk was getting cluttered with soggy tissues. "B-but it didn't work..."

Tears continued to spill over my face.

"I know you did," Ms. Cerrata soothed. "I'm sorry you're disappointed, Lara and you're upset, Mary Anne. Why don't you two go wash off your faces and maybe you'll feel better."

Slowly, Lara and I got up and headed out, me wadding up my wet tissues and throwing them out. My face still resembled a waterfall.

"Careful, Mary Anne's gonna flood the bathroom," Riles snickered.

"Randy..." I heard Ms. Cerrata warn.

"You didn't have to get upset and cry too, Mary Anne," Lara told me as she blew her nose once we were in the girls' bathroom. "It was my stupid test that I flunked."

"I just...couldn't help it," I tried not to choke on a sob as I wiped my face.

"I know you're sensitive, but I never guessed you were THAT sensitive, Mary Anne," Lara smiled shakily at me. "Well, it was a good try, but I guess with Sergeant Cerrata teaching that class, it still wouldn't have worked."

"She's just..." I had to blow my nose.

As I blew, my nose made a loud, unpleasant _uuonnnk_ sound. I hate it when my nose does that. "...somebody you have to get used to. Maybe you could talk to her, tell her you're having a hard time in her class..."

"Forget it, Mary Anne," Lara sighed. "The woman's a drill sergeant."

For some crazy reason, that started fresh waterworks from me and I was blubbering again.

"Hey, hey, Mary Anne..." Lara patted my shoulder. "Don't cry again...hey..."

"I...j-just...feel so b-b-bad..." I bawled. "...that you...didn't even...p-p-pass..."

"Aww, hey..." Lara's crying had stopped by then and she put an arm around me until I could gain a measure of control over this fresh wave of tears.

Just as I thought I was going to wind up dehydrated, my tears slowed and I was able to finally gain some control over my crying.

* * *

**Mona: **

I'm all ready for the holidays. I just have to shop for one or two more things, then I'm all set.

I got to PE a bit early, so I waited for Mary Anne, who's in this class also. She came in a few minutes later with a group of other girls.

I saw that she had her head ducked and I called her over. She saw me and came over. I noticed her eyes were red and her mouth was droopy.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly.

"I just..." Mary Anne took a shaky breath as we changed into our gym suits. "Remember I helped Lara Garrett study for that English test?"

"Yeah..." I nodded. "Did something go wrong?"

"She...didn't do very well," Mary Anne's eyes welled up again.

"Oh, that's too bad."

"I...gave her notes. I just feel so bad that they didn't help..." Mary Anne put a hand over her eyes, sinking onto the bench beside us.

"Maybe I don't get through as well..." she muttered.

I could tell that she was fighting a back a fresh wave of tears.

"Hey...Mary Anne," I put a hand on her arm. "Don't blame yourself. I know you did the best you could. It was up to Lara to study and get more help if she didn't understand."

I sat beside her and put an arm around her.

Mary Anne sat for a long minute, hand over her eyes, taking shuddery, ragged breaths every few seconds. Once a sob came out of her and she struggled to keep more sobs from overtaking her.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked softly.

"Ummm-hmbb..." Mary Anne slowly took her hand away from her eyes, took out more tissues and wiped at a few stray tears that had spilled out and blew her nose.

"Holidays are almost here," I added, smiling at her.

Mary Anne nodded and tried unsuccessfully to smile as we headed to the gym.

* * *

**Claudia: **

After school, Abby, Kristy, Anna, and I raced over to my house to prepare for our feast for the cast/BSC party. Abby and Anna both love to cook, so the four of us made all these little holiday cookies and tons of CHOCOLATE delectables, which I adore.

"Isn't it great that winter break is almost here?" I asked as we waited for the last batch of goodies to finish baking.

"Yeah, and who said Y2K is gonna be such a disaster?" Abby quipped, licking leftover batter out of a bowl.

"Oh, those superstitious fundamentalists," Kristy mused.

She stood up and shot silverware across the kitchen as if she were playing basketball. All but one landed there. We applauded and Kristy bowed dramatically. We were all psyched about this party and the impending two-week winter break.

"Hey...when's Janine coming back here for the holidays?" Anna asked me.

"Sunday," I told her.

Janine, my older sister, is in her second year at the Virginia Naval Academy. It's a smaller offshoot of the big one in Annapolis, Maryland. She might be a pilot or an engineer.

So now infused with her usual huge vocabulary is a lot of Navy jargon. I sometimes miss that, even though she used to drive me up a tree sometimes.

* * *

**Abby:**

When Anna and I got home, Gram and Grandpa were there and we hugged.

"So..." Gram said. "My granddaughters revolutionized the big town of Stoneybrook this year."

"I wouldn't say _revolutionized_," I told her as we sat in the living room. "But we changed a few things...like how our generation is portrayed. That Operation Today's Good Youth...changed some things in our school as well."

"So pray tell us..." Gram sat back.

So Anna and I did. We talked about the In crowd and how they'd intimidated other kids last year, including the BSC.

It is still rather hard for me to talk about when I was one of their targets and how they dubbed me _Seaweed Stevenson_ and called me an idiot because I'm funny and boisterous.

And we added about Kristy's fistfight with Riles Greer.

"...so we had to do something this year," I added.

Anna and I told them about the letters we sent in and talked about Ms. Silverbein's support and how some of the parents raised flak.

We added how the local government stood by Ms. Silverbein as she stood by us, despite the criticism she got from some parents and Mr. Brooke, the principal of Burkeview High.

That's what finally weakened the In clique and gave kids the courage to stand up to them.

"...none of the In crowed got involved in this," Anna added. "But it's good to have our school back."

"Good for you," Gram told us.

"We're so proud of you girls," Grandpa added.

"It's hard to believe that my girls are growing so fast," Mom added softly. Her eyes grew moist. "A year and a half and they'll be ready..."

For college, I knew she was thinking. It's also hard for me to believe that in two years we'll be ADULTS and ready to move out on our own and head to college.

"Want to see the videotape of last night's production?" Anna asked our grandparents. Mom had videotaped the production.

"Sure thing..." Grandpa nodded and we set up the VCR to watch

* * *

**Dawn: **

I got home at around five that evening. Home. I guess this feels somewhat like home, even though we're only staying here until our other house is re-built.

Neither Mom or Richard were home yet, but Mary Anne was. I found her sitting on her bed, stroking Tigger and clutching a piece of wadded-up paper.

"Hi...what's that?" I asked.

"That English test," Mary Anne sounded a bit gloomy.

"What's wrong?" I saw the ninety-six on top. "You got an A. Don't tell me you're beating yourself up because you didn't get a hundred."

"Oh, it's not that," Mary Anne put the test in her desk drawer. "It's..."

She looked over at me, her large brown eyes sad. She sat by Tigger and pulled him into her lap and stroked him again. "Lara Garrett didn't."

"Lara didn't what?" I asked, petting Tigger too. I knew Mary Anne had been helping her study.

"She didn't do so great and I feel so bad about it," Mary Anne told me. "Lara was really upset and we both just...cried and cried right there in class. We were both so upset that we had to be excused to the bathroom and still I couldn't stop crying. I gave her notes and still..."

She shook her head, her brows tightening. "I feel so sorry for her."

"Oh, Mary Anne, that's too bad," I told her. "I'm so sorry about that."

"I felt terrible. I'm all cried out about it for now."

"That's good," I told her. "You did your best and that's what counts. Anyway, you know what else is good?"

"Wha..." Mary Anne looked up skeptically.

"One more day to go before the holiday break and we'll be able to sleep late for TWO weeks!" I laughed.

That won a small smile out of Mary Anne. I know she especially loves to sleep late.

"True." Mary Anne nodded. "And Grandma Baker is coming on Sunday and your grandparents are coming Monday."

Tigger crawled off her lap and Mary Anne stood and suggested, "C'mon, let's start dinner for our parents tonight. I'm sure they'll like that."

I nodded and we headed downstairs.

* * *

**Claudia:**

Friday we had just a half day and it was mostly little parties in every period and a ton of goodies passed around. A lot of us wore red and green colors and the teachers were having a great time too.

They didn't really attempt any regular classes, so it was like a no-school day. Toward the end of the day, Ms. Silverbein come on the loudspeaker to wish us a safe and happy holiday.

Once the last bell rang, a lot of kids whooped and I let out a "YEEEEE-HAAAAA!"

We scrambled out of our room and made a mad dash for our lockers. Stacey and Abby were there and we stood and waited a few minutes for the crowd to thin out.

"See you tonight at the party!" Caitlin called on her way out.

"See you tonight!" We called back. Once the crush had become manageable, we dropped our books into our lockers and the rest of the BSC met us by the bathrooms.

"Did you see that in the stall there?" Kristy asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"No...what?" Mona asked as she and Mary Anne came up.

"There..."

_Kilroy was here to tell you to get ready for Y2K_, one bit of graffiti said.

_God help the above dork on Y2K_ was another one.

Another funny one that cracked us up was _Ms. Silverbein throws up when she eats pork_.

Someone had responded, _Naturally, you dopey peon, she's Jewish!_

True, Ms. Silverbein is Jewish and many Jews don't eat pork.

We laughed, then headed to the door. The bathroom stalls are always covered with graffiti, usually dull trite stuff, but once in a while, some of it is funny.

"Hey, it's snowing!" Mary Anne crowed as we stepped outside. Sure enough, it was! And in huge, white fluffy flakes too.

"Awright!" Kristy and I yowled.

"I hope it sticks, so we can have snow for the holidays!" Stacey added as we headed home.

It did and by that party that night, the ground was covered with at least two inches of snow. The party itself was fun and all of us had a blast. It was also the sixth night of Hanukkah as well, so I had up Hanukkah as well as Christmas stuff.

"Hard to believe it's almost the year 2000," I said as several of us stood in a group.

"Hey, I'm going to my dad's for New Year's and he and Samantha said it's all right if you all want to come," Stacey told us. "Samantha has her office in Times Square and you can see the ball drop from the window. She said we could bring our sleeping bags and sleep there and see it drop from there."

"Hey, swell!" "Great..." all of us nodded.

Wow! What a great way to welcome in the new millennium!

I woke up on Saturday morning after the party. Good. Saturday. No baby-sitting jobs to rush off to this morning. I could sleep in.

What a swell party it had turned out to be. What a week. That reminded me that it was the start of winter break and I let out a soft whoop of pure bliss, then sank into the pure joy of sleeping late for the next two weeks.

* * *

**Mary Anne: **

I slowly came awake and sat up, feeling a lot better since Thursday. I'd had a great time at the party last night.

I peered out at the snow and admired the sight for a minute, then still feeling sleepy, lay back down. I could hear Dad and Sharon in the kitchen, I guess having breakfast. Unlike Dawn and me, they're early risers.

I was looking forward to seeing Grandma Baker tomorrow. She'd told me that it had snowed a foot last week in Iowa, which didn't surprise me.

I picked up a book, _The Bell Jar_ and started to read a while, but then dozed off. Wow, it feels so good to just spend a morning sleeping on and off after such a busy two weeks.

On top of that, the holidays are here and it's almost the year 2000. I drifted from a doze back into blissful sleep.


	16. Welcome to the 21st Century, BSC!

The BSC see in the new millennium in their 11nth grade year after their success with OTGY! Enjoy!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**16: Welcome to the 21st Century, BSC!**

**Kristy:**

"Just a day and a half of the old millennium," I told my friends as we walked out of the deli on Lexington Avenue of New York City.

"Kind of spooky," Claud added.

All of us BSC members were spending New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in the Big Apple at Stacey's dad and stepmom's place. We'd arrived here at around noon and this afternoon we were spending it out on the town, including Mallory and Jessi.

"Then the countdown to Y2K begins in earnest!" Abby added.

"That's going to feel strange writing two and three zeros," Stace put in.

"God, we're living through a moment in history," Mary Anne added. "Something we can tell our kids and grandkids."

"I just hope our computers don't mess things up," Dawn added.

"Me too," Mona agreed. "My mom says most things here are Y2K-ready."

We passed by several vendors selling Y2K T- shirts and souvenirs. We'd bought some stuff earlier and were debating on whether to keep it all or put some of the stuff into a time capsule and bury it into the ground for future generations to find.

It was a couple of T-shirts, a sweatshirt, pencils, a cap, and smaller desk supplies as well as a screen-saver disk.

It was windy and cold and at Times Square, we could see the ball way up toward the sky, getting ready to be dropped tomorrow night at the stroke of midnight.

On the top floors of the hotel were people scurrying around getting everything ready for the New Year's festivities. Almost everything is booked and has been for months.

We're lucky because Samantha's office is within view of the Times Square Ball and she has a 24-hour pass to the office.

She'll be able to have us bring our sleeping bags there and stay overnight in her office and see the ball drop firsthand. Good thing, since I'm sure by tomorrow afternoon, the whole world and their mother will be here crowding the square.

"Wish there was a tree around," Jessi told us.

"Why?" Anna asked.

"So we could write _The BSC was here at Y2K_ or something," Jessi explained. We all grinned.

"Well, maybe we could get permission from the park authorities and come back here in the spring and put a time capsule in Central Park or Liberty Island somewhere to testify that we were here," Mary Anne suggested.

"Sounds good," Mal added. This is going to be quite a New Year's celebration. And then some, if half of what they're saying comes true.

* * *

**Mona:**

"It's starting!" I called, waving the others over.

We were gathered at Sam's office and it was counting down until midnight. So far, we'd seen news flashes of Y2K breaking out in Asia and Europe with no signs of trouble computer or otherwise.

We had a ton of goodies and were having a kind of sleepover. Stacey's dad and Sam had cots down the hall and came to join us.

..._ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two_...

We could see the screen flash and could faintly hear people way below chanting the countdown and all of us clutched hands just as the clock hit midnight and the ball swooped down, leaving a blazing 2000 at the top.

2000. Incredible. Two thousand. _It is the year 2000_.

We could hear the crowd whooping it up and bellowing down there. It was hard to see them from the angle the window faced, but it was a good guess that people here jumping up and down and basically going wild.

"Wowww..." I let out my breath. Mary Anne's eyes filled with tears and she impulsively gave me a hug.

"Happy New Millennium, everyone!" Kristy crowed.

"Happy Y2K," Stacey's dad boomed and he and Sam hugged. That got all of us hugging.

"We made it," Stace whispered.

"The year two zero zero zero," Claud put in. "It feels so strange."

"The twenty-first century," Abby let out her breath. "We're at the cusp of a new era."

She looked a bit overwhelmed herself. I think all of us were at the enormity of this turning of the millennium. The year 2000. Amazing.

"A toast," Kristy held up her half-full cup of chocolate after Stacey's dad and stepmom told us goodnight and headed to bed. "To all of us twenty-first century women." We clicked glasses, cups, whatever we drank from.

"Welcome to the twenty-first century, Baby-Sitters Club."

"Welcome to the twenty-first century," we murmured, taking sips.

Before I lay down, I looked at the clock one more time to indeed confirm that it was January first of the year 2000, the twenty-first century, a new millennium.


	17. Ski Trip

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**17: Ski Trip**

**Abby:**

"Commence of a new semester!" Kristy sang, leaping a little ahead of Mona and me as we walked down the hall after lunch that late January toward our next class. "Our third-to-last semester of school of hiiigh!"

We chuckled. Kristy was in high spirits today and in a way, it was good. We've gotten some snow this month, but this week has been kind of rainy and things have dulled down.

We've gotten through semester exams, had a long weekend, then just started the second semester of our junior year. We're still a little amazed that it's the year 2000, but we're getting used to it.

As I got to my next class and sat, I looked around and felt good about how much lighter and more relaxed everything seems at Stoneybrook High since the In clique was weakened. And to think that it started with career day last September.

Now kids aren't so divided anymore. The In crowd kids still were around and still sometimes ridiculed others, but now they knew that the other kids could stand up to them and no longer were a menace that they seemed last year.

"Think we'll get another snow soon?" Caitlin sat next to me with a grin.

"Hope so," I nodded.

"I'm headed out skiing two weeks from this weekend with a couple of friends," Caitlin rummaged through her bag, then her purse and pulled out two gel pens and a notebook.

"My friends and I might go in February if we have enough cash in our BSC dues," I added.

Caitlin's athletic too, so we talked a little about skiing and basketball until our teacher started class.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

We'd pooled up enough money from the BSC's dues to take a ski trip on the second Saturday in February. We haven't gone in a long time, maybe since eighth grade and that was with Watson and Kristy's mom.

This time, we went for one day. The place is just an hour away from Stoneybrook past Bridgeport.

Claud's folks let her use their car as well as Kristy's mom with hers, so we just drove on up and had a blast.

Back in Stoneybrook, we'd just gotten a few light snowfalls, but up here in northern Connecticut, there was a lot more snow.

I thought I'd be out of shape and would tire fast, since I'm not athletic, but I was able to keep up. Kristy and Abby were the two fastest, especially Kristy.

Mona and I stopped at one point to get hot chocolate and at one point saw Kristy zoom past the lodge window.

"Hiii!" she bellowed and we laughed.

"She can ski like lightening," Mona said.

I noticed that since the In clique was weakened, my friends and I are more relaxed, more at ease and we can concentrate on other things.

I myself was finishing an article for the _Beacon_ that I'd hand in on Monday, a light, funny article on snow. Maybe I'd add something on ski trips and the relaxing effects it has on people.

I love snow; it's so beautiful, especially in the late afternoon sunlight.

* * *

**Mona:**

"...so Ron asked when he'd see me and I told him I go to Stoneybrook High and since he goes to Earhart, we could meet at Aster and Dusker's or something," Kristy went on as we headed home toward the end of the day. "So, it was all right with him. Bizarre meeting someone from Earhart High at the ski place."

We all chuckled. I sensed Kristy was feeling something for this Ron Hayes and I wondered if it would develop into something serious.

It's odd because it reminded me of a guy I'd dated way back in seventh grade when I was at Wakeman Middle, a Matt Zeboski. I was sure I'd had a crush back then, but in eighth grade, it kind of faded out and we drifted our separate ways.

I haven't felt that way about a guy since. I also know Claud and Stacey have both dated a couple of guys each since starting high school.

I found my mind drifting back to my first two years of high school when I was at Burkeview. It seemed like almost every girl had a boyfriend or was crushing on a guy except me at first.

But then I sort of had this girl in my mind, a senior when I was a sophomore. She was Anne McConner and I'd found myself thinking about her a lot that year. Of course, I'd never told anyone.

For some reason, her face was one of those you don't forget. Dark, dark hair, big brown eyes and a rather olive complexion, but not quite dark. And she was one of the nicest seniors too.

I remembered that she'd stood up for a girl who was harassed by the BIG clique that had dominated Burkeview then. When she graduated at the end of last year, she'd cried and I'd reached out and hugged her tight, feeling a rush of tenderness toward her.

_Oh, Mona, good luck and don't let the BIG clique every tear you down_, she'd whispered in sobs.

_I won't_, I'd promised and wished her good luck at Boulder U. where she was headed.

Even now it's hard to describe what went on between us, but it felt special. I wasn't ready to tell even my friends yet, so I listened to the others chat and occasionally chimed in something.

By then Kristy had moved on from Ron and they were onto various food at various restaurants.


	18. Out of the Closet

Mona is about to make an important discovery about herself. Just a quick disclaimer...Matt Zeboski, Garrett Boldt, Scott Daly, Melanie Edwards, and Shane Arrington are strictly creations of Betsy Haynes just like Mona is, sooo enjoy!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**18: Out Of The Closet**

**Mona:**

As Kristy, Mary Anne, and I headed home that March afternoon, Kristy talked on about Ron Hayes.

For some reason, I found myself thinking about the time I'd dated Matt Zeboski and how it hadn't really been that deep. And how I really hadn't been attracted to any other guy since then. And then there was Anne McConner.

Listening to Kristy's description of Ron, it was very much like the thoughts I'd had on Anne last year.

I also remembered how whenever I was in a crowd or near a crowd, I'd notice various women who seemed cute to me. Just the way a lot of people notice the opposite sex. Was something going on with me, maybe my hormones?

Once we parted and I got home, I booked upstairs and started my homework. As I worked through algebra problems, my mind wandered to Anne and I still felt a bit tingly just thinking of her.

I've always felt different from mainstream kids, even back in middle school, where I kind of hung on the edges back at Wakeman Middle and Burkeview High.

Part of it is because I'm quiet and shy and another part is that at both Wakeman and Burkeview, looks were considered important on the social scale and I wasn't what was considered attractive.

But there was more...maybe I was coming to it now. I have a good group of friends here at Stoneybrook High, but still I often feel odd, sort of set apart.

Are there other kids who felt the way I do? I'm sure there are, but it's hard to tell who they are.

I finished my homework by late afternoon and after dinner, I went to check the e-mail. There was one ee from my older sister, Amber, who is a freshman at Yearling University in Massachusetts.

In it, she talked about her classes, then mentioned her roommate, Cheryl, who was having trouble dealing with feelings she was having.

..._she has come out to me and to a counselor, but feels that she can't tell her folks_. _Her folks are not the most accepting, understanding people_. _I do remember meeting them once at when they visited and they are from Kentucky_.

_They seemed to me a bit overbearing and conservative, but that was my perception_. _So, I told Cheryl that it is entirely up to her whether she wants to mention her sexual orientation to her folks_. _Her counselor says she should, but I say she should wait a while and see where they stand on gay issues_.

Wow, I thought, reading over the ee again. I know that there are still a lot of conservative-minded people out there who still reject their own kids for being gay or treat it like some horrible disease or think of it as a big sin.

That's why I'm thinking carefully about whether I should come out about my own feelings.

I felt a kind of bond with Cheryl, even though I'd never met her. I ee'd back on impulse.

_Amber_..._she should come out just slowly with whoever she trusts not to judge her_. _Believe me, I know and there are things I'm wondering about myself too_...

I ee'd a little more and told her to pass on my message to Cheryl to hang in there, then logged out and sat for the longest time, my own feelings whirling inside of me.

"Good-night, hon..." Mom called as she headed to bed.

"'Night..." I said faintly, wondering if Mom heard the strange sound in my voice.

I wondered if I should see a counselor to help me sort out my feelings. I didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but I felt it was something important I was finding out about myself that I wanted to know about soon.

* * *

"Dr. Reese," Ms. Raxer handed me the number at the guidance counselor's office the next day. "She specializes in teen issues and can help you sort out your feelings."

"Thanks..." I looked down at the number as I left.

I hadn't quite come out to Ms. Raxer, but had hinted that I was trying to analyze something about myself.

Good, if she helped me sort out what was going on inside of me, I could move on with figuring out my sexual orientation and then come out to whoever I trusted.

As soon as I got home that afternoon, I called and made an appointment for Friday after school.

* * *

I headed to the small cluster of offices after school let out on Friday, feeling a bit apprehensive, yet it felt good to be talking this out with a professional.

I went in and liked how warm the waiting room looked. It was sunny and spacious and there were little styrofoam cups with makings for tea and coffee.

I noticed that there were several psychologists' offices in this building. A couple was across from me and two chairs down was a guy of about eighteen.

I briefly wondered if they were here for counseling as helped myself to some tea and picked up some pamphlets on the side shelf.

There was one on alcoholism and another on work injuries. They were little scriptograph books with nice little stick and quote balloons describing whatever the subject was, problems, solutions, etc.

"Mona Vaughn?"

A pretty, slightly chubby black woman in a purple silk blouse stuck her head out of Dr. Reese's office.

"Me..." I put the pamphlets away and headed toward her.

"I'm Dr. Reese," she smiled warmly at me.

We shook hands as I came into her office.

I couldn't help smiling back and I felt at ease with her immediately. She reminded me a little of Oprah Winfrey and once I sat, I knew I'd be able to talk to her.

* * *

I slept late on Saturday, then got up slowly and got dressed. Mom and I had a leisurely little brunch.

Nothing much, it was pancakes, peanut butter toast, and tea. I fiddled around with my pancakes, debating on what to tell Mom on what I was finding out about myself.

"Penny..." Mom smiled at me.

"I'm...I guess," I took a breath. "I've been making some discoveries about myself and found out that I might be gay."

"Oh?" Mom stirred her tea some, but didn't seem too surprised. "When did you come to the conclusion? Are you in love with another girl?"

"Not really," I took a sip of tea. "It's just that...I think I had a crush on a couple of girls last year, and I was thinking about the time I went with Matt Zeboski...remember him back at Wakeman?"

Mom nodded.

"We were attracted to each other..." I added. "...but not really...in love in the usual sense."

"That usually happens," Mom nodded. "Have you talked to anyone about this?"

"Dr. Reese. She was great. She said not to rush to any conclusions yet, but made me feel a lot better."

"That's good." Mom stroked my hand. "You know, I read an article that ten percent of the population is gay, so you're not alone. It's not the aberration that some people still think it is. Maybe we could mention this to Amber's roommate; it could help her."

"Dr. Reese also gave me a few pamphlets," I stood and went upstairs a minute, got them and brought them back to the kitchen and we poured through them for a while.

"This one is for parents of gay kids." I handed the one from FLAG to her.

"Very informative." Mom reached out and stroked my hair, then gave me a hug. I hugged her back. "Thanks for trusting me enough to be open with me about something that must be very confusing for you."

"Thanks for being understanding," I whispered. "I love you, Mom."

"Love you too, sweetheart," Mom stroked my hair.

"See you later, Mom," I called, rushing out the door.

"Bye, honey; have a good time," Mom called back.

I caught the bus to Aster and Dusker's. Mary Anne said she'd be there and we decided we'd play some pool, then grab a snack.

As we headed to the pool table, I thought over what I'd talked about with Dr. Reese on Friday. Her advice about not rushing to conclusions sounded good and I'd make sure I took things slowly.

"You're still growing and it may take time for your orientation to settle in," she'd told me. "By your early twenties, you'll most likely understand it better." Next month, April, was Gay Pride Month and sometimes, they held a huge march in Washington, DC.

Since Aster and Dusker's wasn't crowded, it was easy to grab a pool table and Mary Anne and I played a few rounds. We were talking and the conversation turned to my old school and I told her that I'd gone out with a Matt Zeboski back in middle school.

"...Matt and I were...I guess infatuated and dated and all, but we never felt a deep love. I figured it was because we were still young. Did you ever have that kind of deep, real love with a guy?"

"Actually, yes," Mary Anne confessed. "Back in eighth and ninth grades, I dated a Logan Bruno. We broke up in April of freshman year."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Thanks. It was heartbreaking for both of us...we both really cried," Mary Anne said softly. "We just grew apart and had different values and needs that weren't compatible. Isn't Logan at Burkeview now? I heard his family moved to Bridgeport last summer."

"Yeah, Liza told me that he is," I told her, remembering when Liza called me back last fall and we talked about Operation Today's Good Youth.

I'd also heard that he was now dating Melanie Edwards, who is a HUGE flirt. I wonder if Melanie is still hanging on to Gene Actbin and Garrett Boldt.

I remembered how back in middle school, she'd strung Garrett, Scott Daly, and Shane Arrington around, making them each think that she liked only him.

Then in eighth grade, she broke Shane's heart and they broke up. Then at the end of ninth grade, Scott and Melanie had a huge fight and stopped speaking to each other.

"Did you ever go out with anyone besides Matt?" Mary Anne missed a shot and handed me the cue stick.

"No..." I took a breath. "The truth...I'm not sure I'm interested in guys at all."

"You're..." Mary Anne seemed a bit surprised, but not as shocked as I'd feared.

"It's a possibility," I spoke softly and we leaned close.

There weren't many others at Aster and Dusker's on that Saturday afternoon, but we looked around to make sure there was no one close enough to hear us.

"I...saw Dr. Reese on Thursday after school and she told me to go slow and think it over...not to rush to any conclusions."

"Good move," Mary Anne whispered. "I saw her back in eighth grade...after Amelia Freeman died in a drunk driving accident. Amelia was a friend of mine and her death was really traumatic for me. Dr. Reese helped me work through that time. She's terrific."

We smiled, then continued our pool game a while longer.

"I won!" I crowed, dropping the cue stick once the game was over. I felt better, lighter than I had in days.

"God, is pool thirst-producing or what?" Mary Anne grinned. "Care for a soda?"

"Sure..."

As we went to the snack area, I thought over what had just happened. To my immense relief, Mary Anne hadn't recoiled from me in horror and she hadn't acted shocked. She hadn't jumped in with quick, easy "solutions" either.

She'd just listened...which is why she's wonderful friend. I had the feeling that coming out to the rest of my friends would be easier now.


	19. Mary Anne and Stacey The Gifted

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**19: Mary Anne and Stacey the Gifted**

**Mary Anne:**

Ms. Cerrata, our English teacher, handed back the essays we'd completed.

"I'll have to say, I was a little disappointed with most of these essays. Perhaps the only three who were able to get the gist of the sonnets were Stephanie Myler, Terry Snade, and Mary Anne Spier."

She smiled at me as she handed back my essay. She's usually very serious, so she rarely smiles. She's also one of the toughest, strictest teachers at SHS.

I don't mind her, but a lot of other kids complain about her.

_Oh_, I mouthed, blushing a little when I saw the _A_ at the top of my paper and read the comments.

Most of the essays made us just think about what went on behind just what characters did and what authors wrote down. I generally don't have trouble with writing.

This one was actually a bit tougher than past essays; it was like piecing a jigsaw puzzle together...at first you pondered the pieces, then used logic to connect various ideas, then bit by bit near the end, things finally fell into place.

People always say that Mallory Pike and I are the best writers in our BSC group. Mallory, however, is the creative writer of the group while I'm more of a factual, technical writer.

Mal is now at a boarding school that specializes in creative arts.

Stephanie let out a soft whoop when she saw her grade.

"Brainiacs!" Simone Trentwood hissed.

"Shut up!" Stephanie whispered back.

"The genius...the owl..." Riles Greer taunted softly two rows behind me.

I squirmed uncomfortably, willing myself not to cry. It's great to be a good writer, but not so great that other kids make fun of you. Am I _THAT_ different from normal kids?

* * *

**Stacey:**

I was the first in the class to finish the calculus test and turn it in. Some kids behind me giggled.

"What a nerd..."

"Weirdo..."

I felt my face flush and fought the urge to tell them to shut up as I sat again. So I'm a math whiz.

Some kids today _still_ act like there's something wrong with being smart, especially if you're a girl.

* * *

**Kristy:**

Mary Anne and Stacey were the last to arrive at the BSC meeting that afternoon. As Claudia passed around the junk food feast and we dipped in, Abby, Mona, and Claudia were talking about inventing an even quicker way to e-mail people.

"I think e-mail is...what...a fraction of a second?" I added.

"I bet either Stace or Mary Anne come up with something in twenty years," Claud laughed. "They're the two smartest ones of our bunch."

Mary Anne blushed and she and Stacey huddled closer to the bed and looked at each other.

"More like Kristy..." Mary Anne muttered and gave a nervous cough. "She's the one with the innovative ideas."

"What's invative mean?" Claudia asked, stuffing more chocolate kisses into her mouth.

"Original...creative," Mary Anne looked around, her dark eyes wide. "Like you, Claud."

"Oh...thanks," Claudia picked up one of her numerous paintings from a huge pile by her bed, looked at it a minute, then put it down again just as a call came in.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

That early April, Ms. Silverbein announced the names of the new members of the TAG, gifted and talented juniors as well as the new members of the Honor Society. Stacey and I were picked!

On the way out of homeroom, Mona hugged me.

"Congratulations!" she told me.

_Thank you_, I mouthed.

Out in the hall, Stacey and I hi-fived each other between classes.

* * *

I was a bit nervous about being in TAG, but it's turned out to be enjoyable. The class in one period long and is twice a week.

Ms. Fedders teaches the language and social sciences half of it, which I'm in. Stacey is in the math and science half.

The language side is split up into whatever foreign language we're taking. Ellen Spinoza and I take German, about five of us take French; four are taking Spanish, and Kathy Maski is taking Latin along with one senior.

We spent several days with a map and a mass of foreign dictionaries tracing the roots of various languages. It was exciting to learn that German and English come from the same Germanic language family.

"That explains why German words often sound like English," Ellen told us.

"My language is from Latin," Chez Mendelez, who takes Spanish, added.

"So are Italian and French," Caitlin Giotti, who also takes Spanish, put in.

* * *

**Stacey:**

The TAG class is interesting...and stimulating! I was beginning to get antsy in my other classes and I take honors Calculus and AP Physics, so in a way, this class came at a good time.

TAG is the last class before lunch, so sometimes we milled toward the cafeteria together.

We'd gotten in the cafeteria that Thursday when a loud voice blurted, "HERE COME THE NERDS!"

Several kids laughed. Alan Gray. He and three others slowly came up to us.

"Here come the geekoids, they're so weird, they need a weird class and their own weird little society!" Riles added his jeer in.

A lot of kids were looking at us. Some of the TAG class squirmed into line, some slunk to the tables.

Mary Anne's brows were tight with nervousness, two small vertical lines between them. I had my fists balled.

"Aaaaa, you're just jealous," Caitlin peered at them without flinching. "Come on..." she looked toward the TAG kids still standing.

"Jealous?" Alan roared with laughter as if it were the funniest thing in the universe. "We're not jealous of a few dweebs. "We can flatten all of you in a second."

"Yeah..." Riles added and leaned toward Mary Anne, who shrank back.

"Come on, we'd better not waste our minds on these ignoramuses," Sheria Lopez led the rest of us around Alan and his cronies.  
Mary Anne practically clung to me and we found the rest of the BSC and sat. Mary Anne was shaking a little.

"Are you all right?" Kristy put an arm around her. Mary Anne shrugged.

"Those ignorant...assholes," I muttered, popping open my plastic container of pasta and stabbing it with my fork.

"I don't think they're going to make life easy for us," Mary Anne whimpered, opening her can of fish sticks. She was close to tears.

"Have they ever?" Abby laughed "Hey...we'll all get you through this...maybe you'll tell your kids about this twenty years from now and laugh when you've got careers and those asswipes are punching out change at Food House or some other food store."

"Oh...Abby!" Mary Anne's face relaxed into a weak smile as we all laughed.

Neither Mary Anne or I take teasing very well, but with the support of the BSC as well as the rest of TAG, Abby was right...we'd pull through and laugh about it by the time we were middle-aged.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

I guess Caitlin, Abby, and Kristy are right when they say it's a matter of jealousy. It's sometimes uncomfortable when you're young and there's something odd about you.

I guess kids feel threatened by someone who's odd and don't know how to handle it, being that our society values conformity.

Now that I think of it, each of us BSC members have something "different" about us, which is part of why we were one of the In clique's targets last year.

After I'd done my homework that night and got into bed, I thought about all this. I thought about us in the BSC and all we've been through together.

I guess because I'm so sensitive, much more so than normal people, teasing is hard for me to take, but one thing I realized is that I'm a strong person and can survive it.


	20. The Final Storm, Part 1

**_Author's Note_:** This next part is dedicated to the victims of the Columbine incident of 1999. Let all of us continue to work to end violence in schools and in the world in general. I'm hoping this chapter gets people thinking. An incident does happen at SHS, but fortunately, there are no guns involved.

**_Also a disclaimer_:** Any characters recognizable by Fab Five fans are strictly a creation of Betsy Haynes, not the current author. Ditto for BSC characters that BSC fans recognize from the books. The ones that neither BSC fans or Fab Five fans recognize are this author's creation and have been copyrighted. Mr. Robert Brooke and Ms. Leah Silverbein are also creations of the current author and has been copyrighted as well. Enjoy!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**20: The Final Storm, Part 1**

**Kristy:**

"..so the game starts at two tomorrow," I told my friends at our May sleepover as we stretched out in our sleeping bags.

"Awriiight..." a bunch of us said.

Tomorrow was our last home game of the softball season and in fact our last home game in all sports. To make it more exciting, the game was going to be against our biggest rival, Burkeview High.

We were winding down the evening after playing Trivial Pursuit out on the back porch. The weather definitely spelled spring and the trees were budding.

"Just one more year of school after this one," I said, stretching out.

"I can't believe it," Mona put in.

"Then what about our club?" Abby asked, a worried look on her face. "Who will the parents here call after we leave for college?"

"Remember I mentioned a next generation a month or so ago?" I asked. The others nodded. "I have an idea and I think it's a good one...we could train our former charges to take over the club after we leave after next year."

"You mean...Charlotte and Karen and the kids we used to watch?" Stacey asked, her dark blue eyes widening.

"Exactly." I nodded. "They're almost in middle school now and they'll be old enough to baby-sit as early as next fall. What we could do is advertise to them, then spend next year training them and seeing what duties they want and who wants to be what officer and all."

"Sounds good," Mary Anne nodded.

"All in favor, say _aye_," I sipped a soda.

"Ayyyyye..." that was the whole BSC.

"I'm really going to miss Stoneybrook," Stacey said softly. "The whole idea about all of us leaving in different directions...has me a bit freaked."

"Me too," Mona put in. "But I think it'll be an interesting experience."

"I for one, can't wait to see the world out there," Claudia put in. "I've thought about New York City quite a bit. Stace, have you? You used to live there and all. Did you ever think of going back?"

"I used to," Stacey told us, toying with the edge of her sleeping bag. "But lately, I've thought of either here in Connecticut or a city up in New England."

"I'd like to see what it's like living in the Big Apple," Mary Anne said.

Mary Anne loves New York City.

"I'm thinking of either around here in Connecticut or back in California for college," Dawn put in.

"Weird that we're getting closer to adulthood," Anna put in. "These years were enlightening."

"They sure were," Claudia put in.

All of us became quiet a while as we thought about our battle against the In clique and everything.

Next step will be deciding on colleges, then mapping out our post-high school living arrangements once we graduated, not to mention figuring out tuition costs.

* * *

**Abby:**

"So are we ready to take on Burkeview?" Caitlin Giotti hollered in the locker room as the baseball team changed.  
"YEEAAAAH!" One huge yell rose. "SHS! SHS..." Several of us chanted as we finished changing and headed out into the field ready to defeat Burkeview High.

Once we were out on the field, I scanned the crowd and saw the rest of our friends on a bleacher third to the top.

It had turned out to be a gorgeous spring day and a lot of grass had been cut around here since I could smell the fresh cut grass.  
It's a good thing one of my allergies is _not_ grass pollen, or else I'd be sneezing up a storm. It turned out to be a gorgeous game too because at first we started to lose, then ended up winning by the second half.

SHS's side went wild and I could see my friends bellowing and jumping up and down, slapping each other on the back. I even saw a few teachers there and caught a glimpse of Ms. Silverbein near the edge of the field with a woman I didn't know.

* * *

**Kristy:**

Our team had won and after the game was over, we headed out to change. It was a long line and we inched in slowly.

Abby and I almost missed what was happening up in the stands. We heard yells, then some smacks.

I looked up to see some kids falling over. At first, I thought it was just an accident...but I realized that a lot of shoving and some punching were responsible for the falling.

Abby saw this also and gasped.

The chaos slowly spread over to various spots in the stands and more kids were punched, pushed and fell over and the yelling and screaming got louder.

"Burkeview..." Abby muttered fearfully.

"No, look there's some kids from our school," I pointed.

Yes, we could see Riles Greer and some of the kids who were part of what was left of the weakened In crowd shoving at kids from Burkeview.

On top of that, some of the kids from Burkeview who seemed to be part of their BIG clique were shoving Stoneybrook kids.

"Let's go; our friends are in there!" Abby shouted and we broke into a run toward the bleachers.

We dodged the blows and finally saw the rest of our friends trying to exit in one piece.

* * *

**Abby:**

I could see Cokie jeering at somebody, then felt a hard jostle, then a jarring push.

"Cooome onnn, bash her face in!" Cokie was screaming.

I was shocked to see Randy Kirwan give Mary Anne a push.

"Cut it out...knock it off!" Mary Anne's thick brows were taut; I could tell she was terrified as she tried to put her arms out to avoid falling. Beside him, Jana was laughing.

"MARY ANNE!" I called. I ran forward and grabbed her. "Randy, GET THE SHIT OUT OF HERE!" I screamed at him.

Randy laughed and gave me a shove. Jana sneered and put out her foot to trip me. I almost fell over, but Mary Anne grabbed me just in time.

We clung to each other. Randy started to kick us, but someone fell on him from behind and Jana screamed.

Clinging to each other, all of us BSC struggled out of the stands and toward the parking lot, trying to avoid the numerous brawls.

It was so scary. My heart was pounding and I could see that my friends were tense and pale. Mary Anne looked like she might faint.

Still latched onto each other, we maneuvered our way out and landed out in the edge of the parking lot.

"Wh-what are we going to do?" Claudia asked. "We'd better call somebody."

"The teachers will...oh, there's Ms. Silverbein," Dawn pointed.

We raced up to her. She'd called the police and was rounding up the other teachers, Burkeview's as well as our own.

"Stay here, girls," she told us.

It was hard to see from the parking lot, but we could see Ms. Cerrata there and several other teachers grabbing the students that were doing the punching and pushing and holding them still.

I could see Ms. Silverbein lunge forward and grab both of Randy Kirwan's arms just as he was punching someone. She managed to hold on to him even though he was much taller than her and tried to pull away from her. She's brave, I thought in admiration.

"God...this is so awful!" I heard someone wail.

I turned to see several other kids out in the parking lot and among them were that group from Burkeview, the Five R Us. Thank the providences of New England that none of them appeared to be really hurt.

* * *

**Mona:**

It took about a half hour, but with the teachers' heroic efforts and the help of the police, once they arrived, the fight was over and the kids who caused the trouble were taken into the school, I think at least most of them.

We stuck around to make sure that no one was hurt. Kids milled back into the field once a teacher said it was safe.

Some kids were bruised; some had bumps and a few had cuts, but thank the skies no one was seriously hurt. Everyone was mainly shaken.

Mary Anne held my arm; her face was white and she was trembling violently. The Five R Us followed us back into the stadium.

"I'm so glad no one was badly hurt," I told them.

As I walked around the stands and fields, talking to people and calming some others along with some teachers and officers who'd stayed out with us, I spotted Melanie Edwards with a tall blond guy that I took to be Logan Bruno.

"Are you two all right?" I called.

It was weird being face-to-face with Melanie Edwards again. It was even more strange that Melanie's boyfriend used to be _Mary Anne's_ boyfriend.

Somehow, looking at this tall blond guy, who seemed prim, conservative, and rather proper and very different from contemporary, looser, freer Mary Anne.I can't imagine Mary Anne and Logan ever having been a couple.

Melanie and Logan both looked tired, tense, and shaken, but nodded.

"I wished I could have punched that jerk Kirwan out..." Logan muttered through clenched teeth.

"But, Logan..." Melanie pleaded. "You would have gotten busted too along with Jana and Randy."

"It's a good thing you didn't," I added before heading on to see about others.

It was good seeing the Five R Us again, I thought as we re-united by the front gates. Liza's face was streaked with tears and her face was pale.

"I...c-can't believe Jana and Randy..." Liza shook her head, fresh tears streaking down her face. "Th-they...pushed me...Randy punched me and they both...dissed me...they used to be two of my good friends..."

Mary Anne reached out to hug her.

"I know, Liza, it's shitty and it sucks," Mary Anne told her before she started to cry too.

Katie reached out and hugged them both.

"It's hard the believe too," Katie agreed. "You're right, Mary Anne, it is shitty, what they did."

"Tell you all what...why don't we stop at my house and talk for a while?" Kristy suggested. "All of us, including the Five R Us."

They slowly nodded, then we headed toward Kristy's house, which is the closest to Bridgeport. Since Kristy had the car, she be able to give some of the others rides home later.

_To be continued in the next chapter_...


	21. The Final Storm, Part 2

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**21: The Final Storm, Part 2**

**Kristy:**

All of us talked for the next few hours and cried some. Mom came in and asked if we were all right and we shook our heads and haltingly told her about what had happened at the softball game.

"Oh, dear," Mom gave us a kind of group hug. "I'm so glad none of you were hurt."

I introduced Mom to the Five R Us members. Mom asked if we wanted take-out Chinese for dinner and we all nodded.

Several of us called our folks and told them what had happened, so for dinner, all of us, including my own family, gathered in the family room to eat and talk.

Mary Anne and Dawn's folks came over and so did the Kishis and Abby and Anna's mom and all of them gave us kids a big relief hug. Mary Anne started to cry again as Sharon and Richard hugged her. The mood was somber as we started to eat

"It's a good thing a lot of teachers were there today," Rachel Stevenson told us.

"They were courageous," Katie put in. "I saw Ms. Silverbein stop Randy Kirwan from doing any more damage and he's around six-two and she's around five-six."

"Mr. Brooke managed to stop Keith Masterson from punching Scott Daly," Christie added. "I just hope Scott wasn't hurt."

"I saw Melanie and Logan there and they just about got into a fight with Randy and Jana," Mona added.

"Logan...?" I asked, giving Mary Anne a quick glance.

"He's at Burkeview now," Mary Anne nodded.

She and Mona looked over at each other. I remembered that when Mona came out to us about her sexual orientation back in March, she'd mentioned that Logan is at Burkeview and is now dating a Melanie Edwards.

"Well, hopefully, the kids who did this will get it this time," Watson put in.

"I think so," Abby added. "They were hauled into the school, Jana, Randy Kirwan, and Riles Greer."

"I take it that they used to all be part of an In crowd?" Richard asked.

"Yeah..." we all nodded.

"Both of your schools have one?" Mom asked, passing around more noodles.

"Yes," Katie told us. "Burkeview had what was called a BIG clique and Stoneybrook had an In clique. Operation Today's Good Youth last fall weakened those cliques so they aren't so powerful anymore."

"But they're still causing some trouble..." Sharon put in. We nodded.

"But they don't dominate the social scene as much as they did last year," I explained. "But yeah, they still cause occasional trouble..."

I was surprised by the fresh tears that welled in my eyes. Mom stroked my back. I had to cry again.

"I think Ms. Silverbein will see that they're dealt with this time. I hope Mr. Brooke does the same for Burkeview," Abby put in.

"Me too..." the Five R Us added.

We talked a while longer before it started to get dark. As we cleaned up the family room, I offered the Five R Us a ride home and Mom let me borrow her van for the purpose.

It's just the second time I'd driven the van since I'd gotten my license, so I drove slowly. It's like being on a huge ship high in the air. Once I dropped them off, the Five R Us thanked me and I thanked them.

"Good luck; I hope Mr. Brooke got them this time," I called.

"Goes both ways," Katie called back.

* * *

On Monday at school, things were rather muted and a lot of kids were still very shaken from Saturday's ordeal. Most of SHS had been at the game, so this affected most of the school.

I was happy to hear the Ms. Silverbein had suspended the kids who caused the trouble for two weeks; in addition, as she announced on the loudspeaker that morning, the troublemakers who had been in sports teams (not many actually, just two guys on track and a few on the football team) were banned from the teams for the next year.

Then she thanked the rest of us for cooperating and moving out at fast as we could and staying calm. They are not even permitted to come into our stadium for the year.

Ms. Silverbein sounded calm over the loudspeaker that morning, but when I saw her later in the hall, she seemed down.

"Are you all right?" Mona, who was with me asked her.

"Yes," she nodded. "Thank you." As we passed the rest of the offices, we noticed a whole bunch of kids lined up outside the counselor's offices.

"Ms Kast and Ms. Raxon are both going to be busy for the next few days," I muttered as Mona and I made our way to Spanish class.

Mona nodded. As we walked into class, we remembered that our Spanish teacher, Ms. Vega, had also been there and had managed to stop several fights. At the beginning of class, she asked if all of us were okay and we talked a little about what had happened on Saturday before heading into that day's lesson. I like Ms. Vega; she makes this class enjoyable.

She was born here, but her folks came from Cuba. She grew up speaking English, but as a teenager and young adult, learned Spanish and now can speak it like an actual native, which is remarkable.

She once told us that she has an aunt who grew up speaking both languages. Her aunt sounds lucky.

Most of our classes went like this today; the teachers made sure all of us were all right and we proceeded with classes slowly.

Ms. Cerrata told us how sorry she was that the incident happened and asked how we were feeling and we talked some about the incident, the baseball storm, I began to think of it.

Once school let out, I was lingering around outside the offices, waiting for Abby and Anna when I happened to glance in the window and saw right into Ms. Silverbein's office.

Ms. Silverbein was in a chair by her desk. Not unusual, you might think.

But she had her face buried in her hands and was slumped over. The door was ajar and I thought I heard a soft sucking sound I heard it again and suspected it was a sob.

Is she _crying_? I wondered. The school secretary came out with tissues and handed them to her. That's when I _knew_ Ms. Silverbein was actually in _tears_.

"There, there, now..." Ms. Weber was saying softly, stroking Ms. Silverbein. "You were great on Saturday, I heard. You kept a whole bunch of kids from getting hurt and probably stopped the situation from escalating."

"Oh, Phyllis..." Ms. Silverbein's voice was high and quivery and fresh sobs overwhelmed her. "I still feel so b-bad I didn't see it c-coming..."

"Hey, don't blame yourself, Leah..." Ms. Weber then put her arms around Ms. Silverbein and gave her a hug.

Poor thing! I thought in alarm. She feels awful about what happened last Saturday and is blaming herself.

I closed the door soundlessly and moved away to let her cry in private. When Anna and Abby met me, I was eager to get home and e-mail my friends about what I had just witnessed. We needed to do something for Ms. Silverbein.

She's done so much for us and put her neck on the line last fall when we were involved in Operation Today's Good Youth. Now it's time we did something to reassure her of how much she'd done and how much we valued her as our principal.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

Kristy told us that she'd seen that Ms. Silverbein was really upset.

"Poor soul," I gasped at that afternoon's BSC meeting. "We need to show her that she's great. It sounds like she's blaming herself."

"She's done so much to make our school safer," Anna put in."We need to tell her how much we appreciate her leadership," Stacey added.

"Ms. Silverbein might not want anyone to know she was crying," Mona put in.

"The thing is to let her know how much she's appreciated without letting on the we know how shaken she really is," Claudia passed around M&M's and chips.

We munched quietly a minute, thinking. We are all still a bit shaky ourselves and knew a lot of other kids are also.

The last time I remember the halls in school being this quiet was back in eighth grade at Stoneybrook Middle when Amelia Freeman died.

I fought back tears as I thought about that awful time. I was now having more nightmares, this time of being shoved and of falling through the bleachers.

Even now I started to shake a little as I remembered...just feeling hands out of control forcing me almost over, touching me without my consent.

"What about a letter?" Kristy blurted. I could see it; one of her ideas. "We could secretly get the other kids to sign it and drop it in her office thanking her for her courage on Saturday."

"Great idea..." "Swell..." We put in.

"How about a card?" Stacey added. "A thank you card that doesn't let on that we know of her being so upset, but lets her know that we appreciate her efforts. What we can do is get a paper, have everyone sign it and put it in the card."

"Great!" Goood!" We all whooped and hugged each other.

* * *

**Mona:**

We passed around the paper and to our amazement, every single student (except the suspended ones, of course) signed it. The kids who'd been suspended, Cokie Mason, Riles Greer, and Alan Gray being three of them, had had their parents contacted and were put on actual probation with the law for the summer!

"Good..." Kristy muttered when she heard that.

By Friday, we had the card ready. The BSC headed to Ms. Silverbein's office at lunch that Friday. She slowly stood when she entered her office and handed the card to her.

It's a nice little card, if I say so myself. It has a picture of earth in space, and says on the cover _Your fine leadership_... and on the inside continues ..._means the world to us_.

"We want to thank you for your heroism last weekend," Kristy told her. "And for all you've done for us this past year and all the years we've been here."

"Oh...thank you," Ms. Silverbein's eyebrows went up a little as she accepted the card, then opened it.

Boy did her eyes well up with tears when she saw all the signatures!

"Oh, girls, I'm...s-so touched." She gave us all a big hug, then started to sniffle and reached over her desk and grabbed some tissues.

"I felt so dreadful about last weekend and this means so much to me..." She wiped her eyes just as Mary Anne's eyes filled with tears.

Ms. Silverbein noticed this and with a shaky laugh, handed her some tissues. It was a relief to see Ms. Silverbein moved by our card.

* * *

Later on, Ms. Silverbein came over the loudspeaker to tell the rest of the student body of SHS how much that card meant to her. She paused a minute and I thought she was really going to start bawling, but then managed to continue, thanking US for our part in getting SHS back on the right track.

Mary Anne, who was in this period with me, started bawling when she said that.

"...so together, all of us, students, parents, and faculty are doing our part to make schools safer...and the youth of today have once again proven how commendable they are and what a long way we've come," Ms. Silverbein finished.

At that, we all applauded, whooped, and made all sorts of victory noises. Mary Anne grabbed more tissues and cried even harder.

Once classes were over for the day and my friends and I met at our lockers and started out toward the weekend, someone hollered, "Long live the Baby-Sitters' Club!"

Other kids added, "Right on!" and "Way to go, BSC!"

"Thanks!" We called back. Once we got outside and on the way home, all of us hi-fived and whooped, "THE BSC FOREVER!"


	22. BSC to The Rescue

Hi, thanks for the reviews, everyone! I love hearing from you all! Book 3 of _The BSC Legacy_ is winding down...just a quick disclaimer than any character Fab Five fans recognize belong solely to Betsy Haynes, not the current author. Ditto for BSC characters that BSC fans recognize from the books by Ann Martin.

Also, someone commented on another site that one scene in this chapter is very similar to Betsy Haynes' _The Truth About Taffy Sinclair_ where the former Fab Five save Taffy from being embarrassed.

If you notice that similarity, it is just a slight variation of the plot, a what if the BSC were in that situation; no copyright infringement is intended, so let me add that disclaimer that this part of the plot isn't mine. So, enjoy and let me know what you think! Flames are welcome as long as there's a good reason supplied. Enjoy!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count **

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**22: BSC To The Rescue**

**Mona:**

"Caitlin's running for senior class president, isn't she?" I asked as I sat next to Mary Anne and Anna in homeroom the morning before our field trip out to Hartford.

Actually, it was several schools that were studying American Government. Stoneybrook, Burkeview, and Earhart were among some of them.

"Yeah, she is," Anna told me. "She'd make a great senior president," Mary Anne added.

All of us are excited about the trip tomorrow. We were leaving at around eight and would be gone until five.

Next week will be the farewell assembly for this year's seniors, then they'll be graduating. Next year, it will be us, I thought as we talked more until Ms. Byrd came in and started taking attendance.

* * *

**Kristy:**

"I wonder if we'll run into any of that Five R Us group from Burkeview?" I asked out loud on the way to Hartford the next morning. We were on four buses and were divided up by homeroom. Abby and Claudia, who were on with me, shrugged.

"I hope Liza's feeling better," Claudia added. "She was really shaken from the Storm."

_The Storm_ is what we refer to when we talk about the brawl at the baseball game two weeks ago. The kids who'd been suspended had come back this week. I heard that they're blaming each other now. Good, the In clique is on the way out for good.

"I'm glad Ms. Silverbein's feeling better," Abby said softly. "It was awful seeing her so upset."

We all nodded in agreement. I'll never forget seeing Ms. Silverbein slumped over in her chair, quivering with sobs. Now she was feeling better and I could see that she stood up straight again when she walked in the halls and her step seemed confident again.

We chatted about other things, including our plans to train the next generation of the BSC and Caitlin's bid for senior class president.

Occasionally, Ms. Chen would walk up and down the aisle to make sure everything was going all right. I think the Storm and its aftermath made teachers more alert than ever, which is good.

"Speaking of..." Abby looked back at us. "I have an announcement once all of us are together and maybe when we're alone."

* * *

Most of the day itself was uneventful. The weather was swell, warm but not humid. We met with the other schools and toured the House of Delegates, State Senate, and other headquarters of the Connecticut government.

It was basically a visual rehash of what we'd learned in government class on our unit on state governments.

It was our lunch break when Mary Anne spotted Katie Shannon and waved her over. Katie was with her friends and they came over, weaving their way through the crowd on the lawn in front of the Connecticut House.

"Hello!" Katie greeted.

"Hi..." we all greeted each other.

"Want to join us?" I asked.

"Sure," Christie nodded and we looked around until we found a space on the lawn to sit.

Some of us went to get food from a nearby McDonald's while others who'd brought something from home, took out their food. We all then sat and started to eat.

"How're things going in your school since...?" Liza started.

"We were going to ask you the same thing," Dawn told her with a grin.

"Sober and shaken up at first," Mona put in.

"The halls were quiet for a couple of days," Mary Anne added. "Even some of the teachers were shaken up, but now it's better."

"It's just about back to normal now," I sipped my soda. "Ms. Silverbein suspended the troublemakers responsible for the Storm."

"The Storm..." Dekeisha started to ask.

"That's what we call that incident," Stacey polished off her fries.

"Good name..." Katie nodded. "Well, it was the same thing at our school. But Mr. Brooke just yelled at the kids who caused the trouble and contacted their parents, then sent them back to class."

"Oh, that's too bad..." I said.

"But it did get them because now they're blaming each other," Whitney put in. "Oh, and they've been pulled off all sports teams for next year. They aren't even allowed in the stadiums for a year."

"Ditto here," Mona sipped her soda. "Poor Ms. Silverbein was shaken up, but she's better now. How was Mr. Brooke...besides yelling at the troublemakers?"

"Mad," Liza dipped her chicken piece into a sauce and ate it. "He came over the loudspeaker and thanked the kids and teachers who'd cooperated, then announced about the kids in trouble being banned from sports events for next year."

"I passed his office that Monday after and I could hear him slamming things around in there," Katie told us.

It was good to see them feeling better too, especially Liza. We talked more about lighter things, including our hopes for senior year. Katie told us that she was thinking of running for senior class president.

"Caitlin Giotti is in our school," I told her. They don't really know who she is, but as we parted, they wished her good luck.

"Good luck, Katie," we told her.

"Hope you win!" I called. They nodded and we headed back to our side where we'd be touring the legislative archives next.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

Abby told us her news once we sat down on the grass for a snack at mid-afternoon. "I'm going to run for Student Relations Officer."

"Oh, wow...hey, greeat!" we all congratulated.

"We could use a BSC member in the student government," Kristy put in.

"We'll do everything we can to help you in the campaign," I added.

"Abby, our next SRO!" Mona crowed.

"Hey, wait until I'm officially nominated before word gets out," Abby laughed. "The elections are still two weeks away."

We talked a little more about the upcoming elections, including Caitlin's bid for class presidency, then talked a little about our college application plans for next year.

Come fall and it would be time to send off those applications. I've already ordered and gotten brochures from Staten U. in New York City and Arizona U. Next time we're in NYC, I'll go out of my way to visit Staten U. and get a preview.

"..._still_ has Jana's picture," we heard a familiar voice saying near the benches.

It was someone from Burkeview and she looked vaguely familiar.

"I wonder what's in it?" another girl asked. "It's gotta be some juicy dirt." They were sitting with a group at a table with a bunch of other Burkeview students.

"Something she doesn't want her precious Randy to find out!" another girl jeered.

I quietly poked Mona, then waved in their direction. The others looked there too. Jana and Randy were two of the ones who pushed us in that storm two weeks ago at the baseball game.

"Well, Keith has it and is threatening to show it to Randy," the first girl said, tossing her blond hair. "Keith _still_ has a crush on Jana, I suspect."

"Yeah, he still gives her these goofy lovesick grins sometimes," someone else added.

"Tammy Lucero, Melinda Thaler, and Sara Sawyer," Mona told us.

Since Mona went to Burkeview until this year, she knows most of the kids from there. "Keith Masterson does have a crush on Jana. I have a bad feeling he has something of hers and is going to embarrass her with it."

"So...can we stop him?" Stacey asked.

"We can try," Claudia shrugged. We all looked over at her. "Sure, Jana and Randy gave us a lot of crap last year and even two weeks ago, but it's the least we can do, maybe that'll make them think twice before giving anyone else shit."

We all nodded, looking around.

"Keith a tall, kind of muscular blond guy," Mona put in. We'd finished eating, so we slowly stood, gathering up our potato chip bags, wrappers, and soda bottles.

"Lots of those at Burkeview," Kristy quipped and we all laughed.

We saw Jana Morgan a little further down and she seemed out of breath. She stopped by a bench where a couple was making out and asked something that sounded like if they'd seen Keith Masterson.

As we walked a little closer to the bench with the couple, we could hear, "...didn't you two learn from that big fiasco in seventh grade?"

"Just be quiet, Melanie!" Jana snapped. "Keith is a creep and he took something of mine and I need it back!"

"Sorry we cain't he'p you..." A southern male voice drawled.

Logan? I thought. Sure enough, when we came aside the bench, I could see that it was really Logan Bruno with Melanie. I haven't seen him since last year. Now I no longer feel a twinge of sadness at the sight of him. I can only hope he and Melanie are happy together.

By this time Jana had whirled away and that's when we saw a tall blond muscular guy streak past them into the woods.

"There's Keith and he has that picture," Mona told us.

Jana started after him, but we could see that she wasn't going to be able to catch him fast enough, especially since she was wearing high-heeled, rather strappy sandals. We booked.

"This way, this way!" Abby hollered and we headed into the woods from another direction.

We saw Keith heading toward us and he darted under a clump of bushes. Jana came panting after him.

The next few minutes flashed by in a blur, but we took the chance and jumped onto a lumpy bush and landed on Keith and a huge pile of mud.

It seemed like a long minute that we wrestled with Keith. It was Stacey who wrenched the picture away from Keith.

"Heyyy, what's with you girls?" Keith snarled as all of us pulled apart. "I'm just having a little fun."

"We don't like your idea of fun," Kristy told him as we all stood.

Mud streaked all of us.

"Especially if it's at someone's expense!" Stacey added. "Here, Jana, we got your picture."

She handed it to an open-mouthed Jana.

"Get lost, Keith," Mona told him.

Keith did. Jana stared at us, apparently surprised. She and Mona exchanged a long look, Jana's blue eyes grateful and Mona's violet ones comforting before we parted.

* * *

**Mona:**

It was strange seeing Jana again. My friends and I slowly walked back into the grassy area, all of us covered with mud. I tried to wipe a clump off the front of my blouse, but got even muddier.

"A losing battle," Kristy grinned and we all laughed a little.

"Guess we'll need good baths tonight," Mary Anne put in.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully.

* * *

**Kristy:**

A lot of kids looked at us BSC as we all climbed on the bus late that afternoon to head back to Stoneybrook and I knew it was because we were covered with mud.

"Who'd you tackle out there?" Kim Baxter called.

"Keith Masterson," Abby told her. "From Burkeview. He was acting like an asshole and threatening to embarrass somebody in his class, so we had to stop him."

"WAY TO GO!" Several kids whooped and we grinned at each other. I could see Mary Anne's face redden even through the mud streaking her left cheek.

"I used to go to Burkeview," Kim told us. "Keith was a big asshole, even in middle school. Guess you BSC put him in his place!"

"The big blond guy?" Caitlin asked. "I saw him just before we got on the bus and he was CAKED with mud, then I saw you guys muddied and figured something went down between you."

"He was gonna embarrass somebody?" Kim Weston asked.

"He had this picture," I told them. "I'm...not going to say whose it was, but he was threatening to show it around and it would have embarrassed the other person."

"You showed him!" "AWWRIGHT!" yelled several other kids. "You BSC are something!"

"This is the group that saved Stoneybrook High from being controlled by the In group," Caitlin added. "Long after we graduate, the BSC will be a legend in Stoneybrook."

Another whoop came up and we grinned at each other. Wow! We certainly did change Stoneybrook High for the better.

It was early evening by the time we got back to SHS. Some kids got rides from parents, some drove and others started to walk home.

"Hey, everyone..." I called.

Jumping up on the sign for Stoneybrook High, I told everyone, "I just wanted to give you all credit for the part you all played in saving Stoneybrook High from the In clique. It was with your support that the BSC did it."

"Oh, thanks..." some kids told us.

"The BSC is incredible!" Tim Hune whooped, giving us a hi-five as I got down from the wall.

"Long live the BSC!" Barbara Hirsch added.

Someone snapped our picture, muddied and all. We shrieked a little in surprise, then laughed and hi-fived each other just as the camera snapped again. What a year!


	23. Almost Seniors!

Book 4 of _The BSC Legacy_ is next and is the last book of the series. It can be found at story ID **395216**. It's titled _Adolescence Passing_ and is the BSC's senior year of high school. Enjoy this last installation of their junior year!

**The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count**

_By_: CNJ

_PG-13_

**23: Almost Seniors!**

**Kristy:**

"...and next year's senior class President is," Ms. Silverbein announced over the loudspeaker. "...Caitlin Giotti!"

We all whooped and yowled. Abby also just won Student Relations Officer as well.

Once homeroom ended that last full day of classes for our junior year, Claudia and I congratulated Abby on her win. Just one more day of classes, then we'll have tomorrow, Friday off, then next week were our final exams for the year.

"Hard to believe we'll be _SENIORS_ next year," Abby told us as we headed to our next classes.

* * *

**Dawn:**

A bunch of us gathered around Caitlin to congratulate her. She seems to have a ton of great ideas for next year. Stacey and I added our congratulations as well.

Now with the IN clique finally defunct, things will be very different. Our senior year will be more relaxed and all kids will be able to mingle without fear.

Caitlin is going to make a swell class President and Abby is going to make a fine SRO.

* * *

**Mary Anne:**

Bit by bit, SHS has picked up the pieces and moved on from the Storm. Ms. Silverbein also appears to be feeling better.

I'm looking forward to summer, when I'd have my first "real" job working several days a week along with Mona in a day care center.

Stacey has a summer job at a video store while the rest of the BSC got summer work at various other places.

This summer we'll also start training the next generation of the BSC. So far we have Charlotte Johanssen, Becca Ramsey, Karen Brewer, and Vanessa Pike. As to who will take what officer position remains to be seen. We have a whole year yet to work it out or let them decide.

That afternoon, the _Stoneybrook Beacon_ staff had an end-of-year party in Ms. Fedder's room. So did _Visions_.

"Congratulations, Mary Anne!" Ms Fedders smiled at me.

"What...?" I was puzzled a minute.

"On making head editor for next year," she smiled at me.

"Oh...yes, thanks," I'd forgotten that I'd applied for that position two weeks ago, right after our field trip.

Impulsively, I reached out and gave Ms. Fedders a hug. It was a nice, small party...cookies, chips and fruit punch.

Afterward, I walked home with Mona and Claudia and we talked about our impending senior year. Next year, Claudia and Mona would be the senior photographers so I congratulated them on it.

"One more year..." Mona told us.

* * *

**Anna:**

Exam week went by quickly for me and finally our junior year was over. The evening after our last day of school, my BSC friends and I stood out on Abby and my porch in the twilight and talked about what was coming for next year.

"A freer Stoneybrook High," Dawn put in.

"There's college plans looming," Stacey put in.

"We'll be the oldest kids in school," Kristy added.

"Don't forget about off-campus lunch too," Mary Anne chimed in.

"Yeeaaah..." We all added.

That'll be a swell change from cafeteria food. There's a little shopping center with a few fast-food eateries within walking distance right up the street from Stoneybrook High.

"It's going to feel strange leaving after next year," I said softly.

We were quiet a minute, then Kristy told us, "Let's make a toast and a pact...to stay as close as we are now even if we go off to separate colleges. To the BSC...forever friends."

"Forever friends..." We all clicked soda cans and cups, then drank just as a shooting star streaked across the sky.

Look for _Adolescence Passing_ at story ID **395216**.

_Storyline Copyright_ 2002 by **CNJ**


End file.
